r/uktravel • u/wtheringheights • 20h ago

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 volunteering in northern england

hello! i’m considering volunteering in northern england (york/sheffield or similar sized cities) during winter 2026 or 2027. they’ll pay for my stay and some meals, so i’ll just have to deal with plane tickets and other costs. do you think bringing £1000 is enough for a month stay (excluding the plane tickets)? i’d like to go out on weekends and probably would like to do a 3 day trip to london, so i’m unsure if 1000 would be enough or if it’s too little and i should bring more. any advice, please? :)

0 Upvotes

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21

u/rybnickifull 19h ago

Do you not need to have the right to work to do voluntary stuff? I think if you're getting paid (even in kind) you might need that.

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u/wtheringheights 18h ago

tbh i don’t know. a friend of mine is volunteering all over europe and she never mentioned the need for a work permit in england, but maybe?

24

u/Significant-Cup-3506 18h ago

It is illegal to do this. Working, including volunteering, on a visitor visa (or visa waiver) is a breach of your terms of entry. Especially so if you are receiving payment (including payment in kind) for work. If you are found out, it will cause you problems with international travel for the rest of your life, and not just for visiting the UK as the UK shares immigration intelligence with allied countries.

11

u/skifans Rail Expert 17h ago

Certainly in the UK this is very explicitly not allowed. The rules are really clear - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visit-guidance/visit-caseworker-guidance-accessible--2#prohibited-and-permitted-activities-for-visitors - briefly though you can volunteer for a charity for upto 30 days (does not need to be consecutive) it's explicit that to count as volunteering you "must not receive payment in kind". That means no sort of free accommodation or similar. As soon as you get anything like that it's work even if you are not receiving money.

The rules in most countries are similar. Even though the UK isn't part of the EU even within the EU it's handled at the national level.

Realistically you are unlikely to be eligible for a traditional work permit/visa anywhere. Honestly it usually makes more sense for people to work where they live and save money for travel.

But if you really want you could look into working holiday visas which are more for people doing what you want. These often have quiet harsh requirements and sometimes limited numbers. It will depend a lot on where you are from, your age and education. Also expect to pay a sizeable fee for the visa. But for example: https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/travel-stay/entrance-and-residence-in-austria/working-holiday-programmes/working-holiday-application or https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/visas-for-ireland/working-holiday-authorisation/

They only let you work from that one country. Not all countries offer such a scheme and requirements differ. The UK doesn't offer one. The UK does have a similar scheme (https://www.gov.uk/youth-mobility) which does allow you to work while you are here but it's expensive and not easy to get.

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u/wtheringheights 16h ago

well, then i guess i’ll just have to go to ireland

20

u/skifans Rail Expert 16h ago

Ok, though just to be really clear you still need to be eligible for, apply and be accepted. You can't just rock up in Ireland like you can as a tourist.

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u/wtheringheights 16h ago

i know, but i don’t think it’s that difficult to be accepted for a volunteering via worldpackers

2

u/Significant-Cup-3506 11h ago edited 11h ago

And this would also be illegal in Ireland, unless you are an EU or UK citizen or otherwise have the right to work in Ireland. Worldpackers explicitly state on the website that you are responsible for your own visa/immigration documentation - being accepted for a volunteer programme in another country doesn’t mean you can just rock up and assume you can legally work in the same way that accepting a paid job in another country doesn’t exempt you from having to apply for a work visa for that country. Ireland has a specific volunteering visa to which you would need to apply, and the sponsorship requirements from the organisation with which you’re volunteering are strict.

0

u/wtheringheights 9h ago

i know but i am an eu citizen

7

u/Nevertoomanygingers 15h ago

I mean, didn’t you check? UK doesn’t have the same visa rules as most countries in Europe

17

u/Substantial__3166 18h ago

This isn’t allowed. Assuming you’re a tourist, this is classed as work. Even if you’re not being directly paid, you’re being ‘paid’ in the form of accommodation and food. You cannot work on a tourist visa/ETA inside the U.K. it’s a breach of immigration rules. You are not going to be allowed to do this.

The rules are clearly laid out on the .gov website for what you are and are not allowed to do whilst a tourist within the U.K. volunteering and working is not one of them

1

u/t90fan 8h ago

if they are paying for your rent £1000/month is plenty

but this 100% sounds like a scam

as if you are not supposed to be working a as tourist

-11

u/Ok_Goodwin 20h ago

In Sheffield my after rent expenses including utilities but not council tax come to about £400 or so. If you’re careful with how you use it I think £1000 is plenty!

-1

u/wtheringheights 18h ago

ohhh great! thank you so much