Volunteer work RussiaIn close collaboration with our partners in Russia, Love Volunteers is offering placements in this astounding country with its incredibly rich history. The profile of a volunteer is not fixed or narrow; people from every type of background embark on volunteering. While many make the decision to volunteer during a gap year, others find that a stint volunteering is a rewarding option when between jobs. Giving a genuinely new perspective on life, volunteering can broaden one’s outlook, provide insights into other cultures and open up avenues for forming lasting friendships.

Choosing the Russian Federation for volunteering – whether in the medical or educational sphere – is a decision that could profoundly affect your life. The emphasis during the programs we offer is equally on learning the Russian language as it is on working to help others. The experience offers a wonderful chance to learn Russian, an ideal language to acquire in today’s world.

Spending time in the new Russia where post-Soviet changes have meant a re-assessment of values and a re-vitalization of much that originally made Russia great is an eye-opening experience. Volunteering here gives rare glimpses of this society, including contact with less advantaged citizens, each of whom has his or her story to tell.

For more information about Russia and the region check out Lonely Planet's Eastern Europe Guide.

Live As A Volunteer In Russia

When volunteering in Russia, you engage with people eager to introduce you to their country. The Volunteer in Russia is likely to be moved by the plight of the people they meet, while knowing that you need to remain focused on the job in hand. All of this helps you to develop as a person.

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Start and Duration

Volunteer placements can commence any day of the year. Our programs are based in cities near Moscow, most commonly Voronezh.

Our Saint Petersburg program is structured in the following way: the first stage is either a four-week or eight-week language learning program. The subsequent volunteering placement can then be of four or eight weeks’ duration. The minimum total stay, therefore, is eight weeks, the maximum sixteen.

Volunteer Requirements

Volunteers should be over 18 and have a good grasp of English. Some knowledge of Russian is helpful. Most travellers to Russia require an entry visa. Our partners in Russia can provide each volunteer with the necessary official invitation enabling them to then obtain their entry visa, but this visa support is not included in the registration and program costs. Volunteers should allow at least one month to complete the visa application.

Initiative and self-motivation are qualities that are greatly welcomed. Similarly, some experience of working with children is ideal. Apply Now!

Project Descriptions for Russia

Program Costs

Love Volunteers is a not-for-profit organization and is one of the most affordable ways to help out in a developing country while being immersed in the local culture.

Fees for volunteer programs in Russia start at US$290 for one week, which includes accommodation, breakfast & dinner, an airport pick-up, orientation and 24/7 in-country support. Please note that payment is required in Euro and may differ slightly from the prices listed below due to currency fluctuations.

Other volunteers periods available. Please, contact LoveVolunteers for pricing of other periods.

A Love Volunteers registration fee of US$235 (approximately €170) is charged in addition to the program fees and covers any placements you undertake for twelve months from the start of your first placement. The fee is refundable if you choose not to volunteer more than three months prior to the start of your initial placement. This fee ensures 24/7 pre- and post-placement support from Love Volunteers, checking and vetting of local organisations, a comprehensive information pack, as well as administration and marketing costs. Given Love Volunteers is a not-for-profit organisation we also ask volunteers to cover any bank charges incurred by international money transfers.

Food and Accomodation

An intrinsic part of the experience of volunteering and of getting to know the language is staying with a Russian family. Love Volunteer’s partner NGO gives assurances that it has directly selected the St. Petersburg host families with whom the volunteers are accommodated. All such homes are located within the centre and within comfortable distance of a metro (underground) station. Staff members have checked in person to ensure that rooms are up to standard and contain facilities for studying as well as sleeping. These are generally single rooms, but where volunteers wish to share, or are attending the program as a couple, a twin or double room can be arranged by request. Access to a telephone is provided in all host homes. Two meals daily – breakfast and dinner – are included in the homestay. This is the most suitable variant for those who are willing to understand spoken Russian perfectly as members of the families know usually a little of a foreign language.

A summary of Russian cuisine can only begin to touch on the immense variety, including the regional specialities to be enjoyed. Of multi-cultural origins, food in Russia ranges from cold soups such as Okroshka, containing many vegetables and either meat or fish, and Borscht containing beetroot, to interesting meat dishes such as Kholodets, gelatinous pieces of veal. Pirozhki are a type of bun stuffed with anything from sautéed cabbage to hard-boiled eggs.

Blini are well-known and much loved and comprise thin pancakes with a topping, either savoury, such as caviar or sweet, such as fruit preserves. Desserts also include Khalva, a syrupy concoction containing walnuts. Among drinks, Vodka is of course widely associated with Russia. Many variations and added flavours exist. The production of Beer has been a major contributor to the economy for as many as 1100 years. Traditional non-alcoholic drinks include Kvass, made from fermented rye bread, while tea is perhaps Russia’s most popular beverage.

Orientation

Volunteers may arrive on any day of the week. After being met at the airport, they are taken straight to their host family where they can at once settle in to their accommodation. On their first Monday, volunteers are introduced to the language school, which has its premises in the Central District. They each receive a Welcome Pack comprising written details about the city and school as well as a city centre map. There is also a helpful guide to St. Petersburg’s restaurants, bars and night clubs, with recommendations.

A Typical Week

The week runs from Monday to Friday. Commencement times vary depending on whether classes or work placements are under way.

During the language study phase of the stay, participants have the use at break-times of school’s cafeteria which provides free hot drinks. Lunch can be taken at any one of a number of moderately-priced cafes close to the school, one of which is a vegetarian cafe located directly opposite.

Weekends are an opportunity for travel further afield. The most highly recommended destinations for visitors are lively capital city Moscow and the stunning Lake Baikal, as well as St. Petersburg where some of our programs take place. Other suggested spots to visit include the long-established Prussian resort, formerly Kranz, now named Zelenogradsk, the village of Gorodets located appealingly on the River Volga. Obviously Russia's size means not all these will be possible, but there is plenty to see around program locations.

About the Country

The Russian Federation holds eternal fascination, not least because of the music, art and literature that have emerged from this nation, or perhaps more accurately: collection of countries. So immense is Russia, the visitor will only be able to take in selected highlights. Much of the country consists of extensive plains and stretches of forest. On the other hand the Urals and the Caucasus mountain ranges contain some of Europe’s highest peaks.

To gain an insight into Russian history, a visit to Novgorod is recommended. Dating to before the 9th century, this, the country’s original capital, possesses delightful churches, a breath-taking kremlin and a setting amid rolling countryside. The first Russians took root here when Varangian Norsemen settled the area in the middle ages.

As for St. Petersburg, it has long been a favourite of visitors to Russia. It is endowed with many monuments and places to visit, such as the famous Vladimirski Cathedral. Seen today as a modern European city, St. Petersburg possesses many western-style qualities. It is also home of writers Pushkin and Dostoevsky. It is a beautiful city, containing canals and bridges, parks and grand Baroque buildings, exciting nightclubs, trendy art galleries and a bohemian scene that attracts many young people. The summer is distinguished by the phenomenon of ‘White Nights’, prolonged days when the sun scarcely sets at all.

Apply now! Or check out the FAQ or contact page for more information.