Costs and Expenses
- Cost and Expenses summary
- Registration Fee
- Teenage Project fee
- Host organisation fee
- Travel Costs
- Visas
- Personal travel insurance
- Spending Money
- North South Preparation weekend
- Vaccinations
- Passport
- MTV Costs
- Complaints Procedure
- Confidentiality and Data Protection
Costs and Expenses Quicklinks
// Cost and Expenses summary
// registration fee
The project fee you pay to Concordia of £150 supports the administration, promotion and running of our organisation and programmes in the UK. Food and accommodation and associated project costs are covered by the host organisation.
We work this way as part of an agreement with networks of other international volunteer organisations worldwide; all of whom run projects in their own country and send volunteers to participate in projects abroad.
We try to keep our fees to a minimum, so that access to international short term volunteering is open to as many people as possible.
A £30 discount will be given on each additional project booked. Please make sure that if you are booking additional projects that you have enough travel time to get from one project to the next, especially if they are in different countries and similar dates.
// Teenage Project fee
If you are 16 or 17, an extra fee is usually applicable to cover additional insurance costs and training for the group co-ordinators who must be qualified to work with under 18's. All additional costs will be outlined in the project details. Please note that all Teenagers (16-17) going on Teenage projects will need to have a signature from a parent or guardian on the Terms and Conditions page.
// Host organisation fee
In Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea only very few organisations may charge an additional fee on certain projects, payable on arrival. This is usually the case in countries where funding is not available. Host organisation fees are always specified in the each project description.
If joining a project in Latin America, Africa and Asia, the host organisation fee is applicable because organisations in the South countries do not receive subsidies in the way that many European organisations do. Also, these organisations do not generate income from sending out volunteers to projects abroad, as this is often too costly for volunteers in the South to travel to countries in the North. The fee paid by the volunteers on arrival supports the daily functioning of the organisation as well as the running costs of the project itself: food, accommodation, interpreters, transport and sometimes excursions.
Host organisation fees are always specified in the each project description but usually they charge approximately £80 - £150 per project. These fees are always payable on arrival and often the projects will want the currency in either Euros or US Dollars.
// Travel Costs
It is you’re responsibly to book and pay for all your own travel expenses. This gives you the freedom to be as flexibility as you like with the transport that you wish to us.
// Visas
You must pay for all your own visas and it is your responsibility to check if you need a visa for the country that you will be volunteering in. For this information you can visit the website www.fco.gov.uk. Please note that some countries will require an invitation letter to get a visa, Concordia’s partners will provided these for you but please check the specific project information first.
// Personal travel insurance
It is your responsibility to take out travel insurance which at a minimum should cover medical and repatriation costs, make sure that you read the small print of your policy. Concordia will need to see a copy of your insurance details before leaving for your project. Please read the Terms and Conditions.
// Spending Money
You are expected to take enough money to cover internal travel and personal expenses while on the project.
// North South Preparation Weekend Fee
If you apply for a North South project in Latin America, Africa and Asia there is a £30 fee for the preparation weekend and you are expected to cover the travel costs to Brighton, where the event takes place. This fee covers the costs of food and accommodation for the duration of the weekend.
// Vaccinations
It is your responsibility to make sure that get professional advice on which vaccinations you will need and remember that they can be expensive. For more information please check out: www.dh.gov.uk/travellers
// Passport
Make sure that you have a valid passport as many countries will not let you in if you have less than 6 months left in your passport!
// MTV Costs
The fee for MTV projects is always £150. Other costs will vary largely depending on the project and where it is taking place. For some projects your food and accommodation will be covered and you will receive a small living allowance. For some, you may even be reimbursed a percentage of your travel costs.
On others, especially in the South, you will have to cover all the costs yourself. All details of costs and remuneration will be included in the project details.
// Complaints Procedure
Complaints with respect to administrative procedures by Concordia should be addressed to the Volunteer Programme Manager directly.
Complaints with respect to the project should proceed as follows:
- If there is an issue regarding health and safety, living conditions or another aspect of the project then the matter should be discussed with the project co-ordinators or a representative from the host organisation.
- If there is general consensus amongst the volunteers that the standards are unacceptable the group should contact the national office of the organisation and inform them of the problem. Contact details for the national office will be given in the pre-departure info sheets.
- If a representative from the National Office is unable to resolve the issue then the Volunteer Programme Manager at Concordia should be informed.
- On return to the UK you should inform Concordia by phone or email and then write a formal letter of complaint to Concordia detailing the problems you encountered.
Concordia will proceed as follows:
Complaints with respect to administrative procedures by Concordia will be assessed by staff on an individual basis and a course of action will be agreed.
Complaints with respect to the project will be dealt with as follows:
- Any negative feedback from the evaluation forms regarding project standards will be forwarded to our partner organisation.
Any formal complaints will be addressed with our partner organisation.
- Concordia will report back the partner's response or any actions taken.
- Depending on the severity of the complaint and the response by the partner organisation Concordia will consider whether to run the project again or to cease working with that particular organisation.
- Concordia does not have a policy for refunding volunteers who have a negative experience. However, formal complaints will be assessed by staff on an individual basis in order to agree a course of action.
// Confidentiality and Data Protection
In compliance with the Data protection Act 1998 Concordia will not pass on the details of any of the volunteers on our database to any persons other than the international partner organisation abroad to which they are applying. Email addresses may be disseminated to other volunteers on the database as part of a contact group though addresses will be hidden.
If a volunteer does not want their contact details to be passed on to other volunteers, or to be contacted regarding further opportunities and activities with Concordia, they will have the opportunity to opt-out of this on the disclaimer.