Arms Around The Child

For over a decade, Arms Around the Child have been working with international volunteers from around the world who have invested in their important work. The international volunteers form an essential part of the Arms Around the Child fundraising effort to continue the development and support in the communities they serve helping vulnerable children in Africa and India.

Vocational Impact are our partner organisation and they have a deep passion and drive to link professional volunteers and university students to the Arms Around the Child projects in Africa and India. With a core mission to drive international skills exchange and empowerment, they recognised the need of NGOs, and the skills university students can bring to them.

They work directly with universities in the UK, Europe and around the world, assisting students with their research projects, dissertation primary research, sandwich year placements and summer work-experience, volunteer placements and link results driven NGOs, with academic students to produce quality research and placements.

What is Vocational Impact?

At Vocational Impact, we connect volunteers with global projects and combine international travel with practical work experience that makes a difference.

Founded in 2015 we are proudly affiliated to the internationally recognised and UK registered charity, Arms Around the Child. Vocational Impact is the volunteering branch of AATC and we are a not-for-profit organisation.

As an NGO with over 15 years of experience in international development, we have a unique approach to sustainable community empowerment. Local humanitarians and professionals run all our projects, we work hand-in-hand from the grassroots, listening and responding to our partner’s needs and development goals.

Our mission is to partner volunteers with our international projects for skills-based learning, cultural exchange and making a real impact in people’s lives and communities.       

What We Do

Global Travel – We are passionate about providing meaningful, ethical and sustainable travel. Travelling is the gateway to seeing the world, making new friends, exploring new cultures and climates, opening our hearts and minds, and learning more about ourselves and others.

Practical Learning – We have global experience helping hundreds of students, graduates and professionals join projects that will enhance their careers and personal growth by volunteering on our unique and tailored work experience opportunities abroad. Every volunteer is special to us, if you are looking for a clinical psychology placement or criminology experience, or if you want to learn about human rights, criminal justice or the mental health system in a different country, we work with you to match you with the project that would benefit most from your unique set of skills and experiences.                                                                                                       

Cultural Exchange – At all our projects volunteers work closely alongside local people who are committed to a cultural exchange of ideas and approaches, sharing professional insight and experience with volunteers, as well as learning from you and utilising your skills and knowledge. Learning about different cultures, customs, and perspectives is an invaluable experience. Not only will you discover something new about another way of life, but you will learn new things about yourself. Our programmes are designed to give a truly authentic experience where you will be immersed in the culture and live like a local.

Positive Impact – All of our volunteers make a first-hand contribution and impact on our programmes. From building working and personal relationships to supporting patients, communities and children. You will make a difference in working environments and communities with workshops, legal aid, education, well-being, counselling, arts, sports and so much more. 

How We Are Different

Unlike other companies in the field, Vocational Impact is a charity organisation and operates under UK registered charity, Arms Around the Child, we are regulated by the UK Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator. By joining our programmes you will be directly supporting our work. Volunteer programme fees go towards providing you with a safe, organised and structured volunteer placement and are reinvested directly back into our project partners in Africa and India.

We work with partner organisations that are specialists in the areas they operate. Our partner organisations are selected because of the important work they are doing and they are run by impressive humanitarians and professionals in their fields. We are committed to providing essential funding to support our partner’s community programmes and development projects, as well as creating reliable and sustainable funding plans.

VI invest straight back into the projects we send volunteers to; helping them grow, access skilled local staff, and provide crucial funds for projects like women’s empowerment, child protection, mental health, legal aid, education, healthcare and community development initiatives.

We are passionate about building sustainable and ethical volunteer programmes where our project partners receive educated and eager-to-learn students and professionals, while volunteers will gain valuable work experience, career-enhancing opportunities and life-changing personal growth.