All our volunteers are expected to be dedicated and to work hard in their placements.

You will have free time after working hours to use as you wish and will have time to relax, go to the beach or visit tourist attractions.

To help SKIP with running costs and programme expenses, we do ask that international volunteers to fundraise a certain amount of money for each month of participation in the scheme. There are various ways in which you can obtain money to cover the contribution fee - click here: how to fund your volunteer placement. We have introduced a system whereby as you stay for longer, the amount of the contribution fees decreases. Although it may seem unusual to be paying to work, one third of our budget currently comes from the contribution fees so we do rely on these in order to be able to continue working. Please see below for our fundraising guide with lots of fundraising ideas!

There are some Coordination roles  (for those with qualifications and experience and who are able to commit to a minimum of 1 year) that are exempt from contribution fee and some include an incentive.

Accommodation will be provided and the cost of this is included in the contribution fee. Usually volunteers will need to share rooms so please inform us if this is a problem in order for us to plan accordingly and try to accommodate a private room.

Contribution fees are waived for Latin Americans. This is important since the long term vision of SKIP is ultimately to have the local community directing and carrying out the project and we feel that waiving contribution fees for Latin Americans endorses this goal. However, volunteers from Latin America will still be expected to fundraise or pay for accommodation (approximately 250 soles a month), and all other expenses.

Contribution fees according to length of stay:

• 1st month: 1600 Nuevos Soles / (approx £380 GBP)
  
• 2nd month: 1600 Nuevos Soles / (approx £380 GBP)
• 3rd-5th month: 1150 Nuevos Soles / £275 per month
• 6th-8th month: 820 Nuevos Soles / £195 per month
• 9th-12th month: 570 Nuevos Soles / £135 per month

When the contribution is paid directly to the charity whilst you are in Peru, please be aware that this should be in Peruvian Nuevos Soles. We do use a standard conversion rate of 3 Peruvian soles to 1 USD - this is for ease of accounting and so we can plan for the exact amount of money to be received in Peru - the rate does fluctuate a little above and below this level.

We do also suggest that people can find sponsors for the charity (businesses and so on) that would be willing to donate an equivalent amount to SKIP in lieu of contribution fees.

There are some options for volunteers to obtain funding from grants - information about this is given below. Alternatively, volunteers can fundraise themselves we have put some information together in the following  comprehensive fundraising guide

More information is available on request from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The following are a few resources that can be used by those who are looking for grant for volunteering.

• Omprakash (www.omprakash.org) is a non-profit organization that offers volunteer opportunities. Grants are available to help qualified volunteers defray travel expenses. The core goal of Omprakash is not just to connect volunteers and fundraisers with its grassroots partners, but also to offer these connections as a resource for meaningful research and service-learning projects for middle and high-school students.

  

  Omprakash has evolved in response to the popular model of “voluntourism” in which foreign volunteers visit underprivileged communities for short periods of time and sometimes inadvertently patronize the very people they are trying to serve. A central principle of the Omprakash ethos is that volunteers should humbly attempt to live and serve in the same community for at least a month, and should approach volunteering as an opportunity to learn from and with their host community. To learn more, visit www.omprakash.org today.

• One option is to make a fundraising page which you email out to friends and family asking for donations. You can raise generally for SKIP, or for a specific project, please get in touch for our current campaigns. We are registered with 'Your Cause' in the US, the pages are easy to set up and simple to use and US residents can register to make a tax deductible donation - see the YourCause website for more information and examples of fundraising pages that other people have set up. In the UK we are registered with Just Giving and UK residents can register so we claim 20% extra on the donation through gift aid.

For residents of the UK and the EU:

SKIP has an ongoing contract with an organisation called 'Everything is Possible', which is based in Leeds, England. Everything is Possible works in coordination with The European Voluntary Service, a part of the new EU Youth in Action Programme, which is being implemented between January 2007 and December 2013. The programme has received the large sum of 885 million Euros to be used over those seven years.

The Youth in Action Programme helps provide young people with opportunities for informal learning abroad. To be eligible for assistance from the EU, you must be between the ages of 16 and 30. It is possible to obtain funding to work with us for 1-12 months, cost of flights are included in addition to accommodation, food and a small spending allowance each month.

Anyone from Europe can obtain a grant from Youth in Action (EVS) but you will need to submit a full application, this will mean searching for a Sending Organisation in your country (see their websites for more information and locations of Sending Organisations). Alternatively, for those in the UK, please approach Everything is Possible and request to apply for a placement with SKIP. The process will be faster with Everything is Possible as we already have the contract with them.

Read about one EVS volunteer's experiences with SKIP on the volunteer blog

For more information, check out the Everything is Possible website, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Also, here is the youth in action programme guide

And there is also a data base which will search for the sending organisations closest to where you live

http://www.dsc.org.uk/Training/TheFundraisingProgramme/FundraisingTips#KQCI

For US residents:

http://glimpse.org/correspondents/

http://www.globalgiving.com/cb/vfpserv/

http://gtionline.fdncenter.org/