Pod Volunteer Reviews

Name: Pod Volunteer
Address: 5, Noverton Lane, Cheltenham, Prestbury
Rating: 4.79

4.8 Rating 577 Reviews

97 %

of reviewers recommend Pod Volunteer

Company Reviews

Metrics

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4.8

Based on 577 reviews

Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	4.8 out of 5

About Pod Volunteer:

Pod Volunteer is an award winning non-profit organisation arranging ethical, inspiring and supported volunteering opportunities around the world since 2001

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Email:

info@podvolunteer.org

Location:

5, Noverton Lane, Cheltenham
Prestbury
GL52 5BA

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Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 4th October 2025

William D

Pod Volunteer 5 star review on 19th September 2025

Harriet W

Darcy D

304

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 4 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“The experience was amazing and so well organised by Pod Volunteer. My only issue is that the experience was a lot more expensive than just going directly through the organisation.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“Overall, I had a wonderful trip and experience! The food was great, I learned so much more about the Amazon than I expected and the staff was excellent. I felt mostly prepared for the trip, but feel like Pod could have done more to distinguish themselves from amongst other volunteer programs. Other volunteers that I worked with knew how many other people were in our volunteer group, who was picking them up from the airport, and had a list of items sold at the store within the Manu Learning Center and had the prices for the items listed as well prior to their departures. However, I felt secure planning this trip through Pod and would be willing to partake in another program with Pod in the future.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“PoD was very supportive throughout the whole volunteering process (before, during and after). They answered all questions I had, and fully prepared me for my volunteering experience”

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Posted 9 years ago

“Very fun!”

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Posted 9 years ago

“I participated in the Thailand Marine Conservation Volunteering program. Learning to dive was a fun and rewarding experience, as was gaining insight and some practical experience in conservation practices such as crown of thorns collection, reef surveys and coral restoration. I felt it probably would have been a much better investment for longer periods. I'd recommend a minimum three weeks; you spend one week learning to dive (or I did anyway), and go from there. Two weeks definitely wasn't enough for the full experience; I'd learn a skill on one dive then never get to use it again (and who ever does things right the first time :P). The staff were knowledgeable and always happy to answer questions, sometimes in the space of time it took me to get a tan. Accommodation has a nice view, shower and soap, but I'd STRONGLY suggest bringing your own mosquito net, as I didn't have one, and you really need to leave the glass doors open to let in the cool air at night. Bloody hot! Beautiful area and sights, good experience. Watch out for the fruit loops that think we came from Mars.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“Met lovely, like minded people on a fantastic trip to south Africa, couldn't of asked for more”

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Posted 9 years ago

“This was my first time ever doing any type of volunteer work or traveling over seas! What an epic adventure this was to go experience South Africa and the elephants at Knysna Elephant Park. From beginning to end this adventure was seamless and smooth as silk. It was such a rich atmosphere to be volunteering with people from all around the world with similar interests. This program was well organized, friendly and very comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised at the weather and how comfortable it was and glad I brought some warm clothes as well since I thought it would be unbearably hot, but it was not at all, just very comfortable with realatively NO humidity which I was so thankful for.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“4eeeks at knysna park S.A Volunteering with Elephants at a Research park. And it was a truely amazing experience. I was a little nervous travelling by myself but with POD's organisation and communication helping every step of the way it made the whole experience very easy. I would recommend anyone considering voluntary work. stop thinking about it and do it. I feel pretty proud and honoured to of participated in such worthy research I also got to meet some very nice people and see some of this beautiful country.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“POD was an excellent organisation that helped me volunteer in South Africa. I chose POD because they pair up people with ethical and very worthwhile opportunities unlike many or most volunteer websites.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Good company although some information didn't quite match what actually happened at the site but it was still a good trip.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Pod Volunteer enabled me to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity. I went to work with cheetahs at The Dell Cheetah Centre in August 2015 for two weeks and my only complaint was that it wasn't for longer. The information Pod provides you beforehand is excellent and the organisation it set me up with was simply amazing. Thank you Pod.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Super helpful with lots of information about the projects. Fast response to emails”

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Posted 10 years ago

“I loved Pod volunteer as an organization. I liked the fact that we could get all of the information about the placement before registering and paying because I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. I also like that it's an organization that really gives back to their projects overseas, they give you exactly where the money goes, it's good of them to be transparent. It was also easy to contact them before the trip, I felt really cared for. My volunteering experience at the Children's Home in Belize wasn't the greatest however, I went for 2 weeks during the Summer and there wasn't that much to do to help so I was bored most of the time. But it's nothing on the organization itself and if I was going to do another volunteering abroad experience, I would do it again with Pod volunteer.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Very helpful and informative for booking flights, etc. The project overviews are not quite accurate for some projects, but overall some great opportunities are available!”

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Posted 10 years ago

“As my first volunteering experience abroad pod were fantastic providing information and support before during and after . The world is your oyster go exploring and using pod you know someone is keeping an eye on you.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Knew what to expect at this venue, very basic accommodations and not real clean, but there was a fan! Unfortunately, we chose one of the hottest weeks with high humidity, but survived. Our goal was to work with the elephants and that experience was as advertised, just wonderful. So now we know all about how to make banana balls, how to harvest banana trees, how to wash, walk and feed the elephants. We are in awe of these amazing animals. Volunteers and staff were welcoming and the teams were entertaining to work with. Also helped out briefly with some of the many animals cared for at camp. This is a huge endeavor and the volunteers are a very valuable asset. We will talk about it for years to come.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“I volunteered with PoD on two separate projects: teaching at a rural children's home in Cambodia for 11 weeks and teaching in a tropical school in Thailand for 6 weeks. I did a lot of research before choosing PoD and my projects and I felt that PoD were promoting ethical volunteering and sustainability within their projects. The people working at the projects: cook, nannies, nurse, doctor, farmers etc. were all local which was important to me as I didn't want to be detracting from local employment in such a poor area. Whilst on the Cambodia project I had to be very independent and was really thrown in at the deep end - I felt that on project support could have been improved; it wasn't until the end of my placement there that I found a volunteer guide book (but even that was outdated). The team at PoD were always reachable by e-mail and before my placement they were happy to answer all my questions. I do feel that the volunteer project booklet needs to be a little more open and up front about the challenges of this project though. I had a wonderful time on both projects - volunteering can be challenging, frustrating and incredibly emotional, but ultimately I found my experience highly rewarding, lots of fun and an unbelieveable adventure that has left me with friends for life and memories I will cherish forever. It is expensive to volunteer in this way, but both projects did seem to be benefiting and there is a breakdown of expenses on PoD's webstite under 'Where the Money Goes' so it's up to you to decide how you feel about it.”

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Posted 10 years ago

“I volunteered in Thailand for two months, and I can say without an hesitation, these were the best months of my life. Of course, volunteering abroad is not always easy, there are bad or sad moments sometimes. But PoD's people are helping a lot, always taking some news and giving advices. You're never alone !”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Very helpful! I would recommend to others!”

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Posted 10 years ago

“Volunteered at libertys in Belize Most amazing experience Erin was very helpful at helping me choose the right placement for me As a female travelling along I felt very confident and safe travelling alone and using POD Which is why I'm using you again ????”

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Posted 10 years ago

Pod Volunteer is rated 4.8 based on 577 reviews