Join our global community of 1,800+ amazing volunteers.

Show solidarity with refugees and work where you can create the biggest impact

Volunteering with Refugee Support is a powerful way to show solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers. From day one, you make a difference to people’s lives—while making friends and having experiences that may well change your life, too.  

Our current Dignity Centres in Chisinau, Moldova, Nicosia, Cyprus and Bournemouth, UK have two services at their heart: the pioneering Dignity Market, where members can ‘shop’ for essential food and hygiene items; and a drop-in centre that provides basic office services like photocopying and WiFi access, and support with crucial local bureaucracy.  

All You Need Is A Smile

You’ll be serving people with essential items in our Dignity Market, which is run in the style of a shop, allowing people to choose what they want from a weekly budget of points. You just need to be welcoming and friendly.

Truly Life-Changing

Volunteering is probably the most selfish thing you'll ever do. We hear it time and time again: volunteers report they feel like they got more out of the volunteering experience than they gave to the refugees.

As a volunteer-focused organisation, we understand your needs, prioritise your wellbeing and provide a supportive environment for you to make a real impact, by giving refugees a sense of normality and showing them that there are plenty of people who care. And there is much more you can expect from us.

Current volunteering opportunities

Our volunteers bring Endless energy and ideas. Meet our global community.

Volunteer FAQ

No, the only skill you need is a smile. Apply to be a volunteer today. Having said that we are looking for people at least 18 years of age in Moldova and UK and at least 21 in Cyprus, who are able to:

  • Focus on the tasks and do whatever is needed
  • Be a team player
  • Work hard and be keen to help
  • Fundraise for the projects
  • Remain cheerful when it gets tough
  • Be assertive and resilient

We’re all about being responsive and flexible so we will only book volunteers from about 3 months ahead. You can apply here. You can see the current availability above.

More than 1,800 people, from 40 nations, aged up to 78 years old have worked with us as volunteers in Greece, Bangladesh, Mexico, Moldova and Cyprus. They have worked in some of the most challenging circumstances, so we know how you can be effective and how to look after your welfare.

We work in safe environments but we have created a specific policy for working in Moldova to manage specific risks there.

We need you to be at least 18 in Moldova and UK. Cyprus is a little more challenging so we need people to be at least 21. There is no upper age limit!

Yes – around 1,800 people from 40 nations have volunteered with us in Greece, Bangladesh, Mexico. Moldova and Cyprus and they have all started helping from the first day they have arrived. After all this time and all those people, we know how you can be effective. We have trained and professional Coordinators in each location and we respond to what people want. About 30% of our volunteers come back and volunteer more than once.

Each one is different, catering for a different group of people at a different point in their journey. Here is a handy table so you can compare the key differences at a glance. 

Where you go depends on you – as long as we have availability and we think you understand the pressures, you are welcome to choose.

Yes – we have been doing this for a long time and have competent, trained Coordinators who will make sure you are safe.

We are more vigilant in Moldova because Ukraine is a neighbouring country at war and there are tensions. We will leave in the unlikely event of risks to personal safety and know that we will get plenty of notice before that is necessary.

You will need to pay for your own travel to the location and accommodation. You will find many cheap flights to places we go and we can offer cheap accommodation. Currently it is €15 a night in Chisinau and in Nicosia.

There may be a lot of essential routine, but no two days are ever the same.

We need to provide the best possible support for the people we’re helping but you’ll find it extremely rewarding. Meet our volunteers and read their experiences.

It is an unforgettable experience and you will be doing good from the moment you arrive. Please apply – you will not regret it.

When you volunteer you become a member of a friendly and supportive community.

If you’d like to talk to someone about the volunteer experience before you decide we can put you in touch with someone who has been there and done it (and even has one of our stylish Refugee Support Europe t-shirts to prove it).

We can advise about travel to and low-cost accommodation in the areas where our volunteers work.

Friendships among volunteers tend to form quickly, so there’s nearly always a group to have lunch with and join up with in the evenings to share a meal and swap stories about the day’s events.

If you would like to volunteer with us, please read the Code-of-Conduct and our Safeguarding Policy (both important documents), before completing our Volunteer Agreement and Application.

After completing the application, you will get an email reply (check your spam folder) asking you to schedule a time to video chat to one of our Volunteer Interviewers.