Excellent reasons to volunteer this year

Whether you are drawn to a research placement or a short summer programme, volunteering can be an extraordinary way to experience new cultures and countries while working alongside local communities to make a real difference. If you have been weighing up whether to take the leap, here are some of the best reasons to volunteer this year.

It is good for your mental health. A growing body of research points to the wellbeing benefits of volunteering. Doing something meaningful for others appears to interrupt the tension-producing patterns in our brains and replace them with a sense of purpose, positive emotion and greater confidence. People who volunteer often report more satisfaction with their lives and rate their own health more highly than those who do not.

It strengthens your employability. Recruiters consistently value volunteering, and studies from bodies such as the British Council highlight how international experience benefits both individuals and employers. On a placement you face problem-solving tasks daily and collaborate with people of very different personalities, all while adapting to life outside your comfort zone. Teamwork, leadership, resilience and communication all sharpen quickly, and they show on any CV.

You gain genuine hands-on experience. Volunteering, whether in the field or online, drops you into real-world contexts rather than theory. Across The Impact Network that might mean supporting elephant conservation in Thailand, monitoring sea turtles and reefs in Mexico or Costa Rica, or helping to expand teaching capacity in schools in Fiji, Nepal and Cambodia. You choose the cause, and you become part of something larger than yourself.

You contribute to global goals. In 2015 the United Nations set out seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, from quality education to life below water. Responsible volunteering programmes offer a practical way to play an active part in addressing some of the world's biggest shared challenges.

You help people empower themselves. The most meaningful work supports communities to build their own futures. That might mean contributing to public-health awareness, helping people learn English to improve their job prospects, or running professional-skills workshops with local women. The aim is always to leave capability behind, not dependency, so ask of any programme how it benefits the community, whether it respects local culture, and what lasting need it helps to address.

You make lasting connections. Volunteering brings you together with people from all walks of life. You might meet a lifelong friend, a future collaborator, or simply have a conversation that shifts your thinking. Living within a community, often through a homestay, deepens those bonds further; sharing meals, chores and daily routines with a host family is a genuine cultural exchange rather than a passing visit.

You can learn a new language. Picking up even the basics of a local language boosts your attention, creativity and ability to multitask, and it opens a door onto the culture and history around you. Working with an organisation embedded in the local community gives you the best possible setting to practise.

It can help you find direction. If you feel stuck in a rut, or unsure what comes next after study, stepping out of your usual routines can bring welcome perspective. Learning about lives very different from your own has a way of sparking new ideas, and more than a few volunteers return home with a fresh sense of purpose, or even a new calling.

Ready to get out into the world and contribute to work that matters? Explore The Impact Network's volunteering programmes and placements, and make this the year you give your time.