Enriching life-changing experiences for a new kind of traveller – that’s the achievement of tour operator Ridhi Patel whose tailored trips for the growing market of golden gap year volunteers blend pleasure and purpose broadening their horizons. “We give our customers the best of both worlds so they have time enjoying a destination’s must-see sights while learning about and giving back to the communities they visit,” says pioneer Patel, the founder and managing director of social enterprise Volunteering Journeys (VJ) www.volunteeringjourneys.com
“Our projects are well suited to those who want to take on a challenge, have a career break or fulfil a lifelong ambition to visit a particular place as well as those whose personal circumstances have changed.” The company also works with dental and medical students who want to combine travel with meeting workplace requirements. Feedback shows VJ’s adventurers appreciate both the straightforward structure of their trip and the chance to make new friends while free to travel safely solo if they wish. For the community hosts – accommodation homestay owners, transport drivers and local staff – there’s the benefit of a new income stream and recognition of what they contribute.
Trips cost from £750 and can be from one to three weeks. The majority of Covering nine locations, including India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand and Costa Rica, the projects focus on skills education from computing to conservation and support developing a small enterprise.
In VJ’s flagship programme in Kerala, south India, a computer lab has been set up to help women’s digital literacy. The facility enables them to learn independently, become economically resilient and so build a better future for themselves. In Cambodia a medical placement works with those with disabilities while in Sri Lanka there’s a chance to help elephants and in The Maldives a chance to improve marine life through coral restoration. Customers come from the UK and are female, ranging from school leavers to 85-year-olds. Growth recently in older travellers and generally among 40 to 59-year-olds wanting to holiday responsibly has given rise in the industry to the “golden gap year” moniker.
VJ, which after a scratch start really got going after the pandemic, is now seeing demand grow 46 per cent and forecasts a £150,000 turnover for 2025/26.
Self-funded so far Patel, a first-time entrepreneur with financial services expertise, embodies what International Women’s Day on March 8 and throughout the year celebrates. With a team of six she is now ready to expand further with the ideal partner a business angel with between £250,000 and £500,00 able to contribute online marketing know-how.
On the customer side “we especially welcome volunteers able to help with teaching English and advising local people about setting up their own venture, for example in tailoring and retail,” says Patel. This year she plans more development of projects for families where there could be a summer camp full of colour and fun and openings for older teenagers to have the chance to work on construction, for example schools.
The benefits last long after trips too with one VJ customer inspired “to start a new business helping others back home”, Patel recalls. “It’s wonderful to see how interested children become when they are part of a place from the ground up, the enduring impact of good works is astonishing.” Volunteering Journeys
