Older kind of ‘gap year’

JEWISH AID charity Tzedek has launched a volunteering project to match skilled professionals to organisations it supports in India and Ghana.

The organisation often uses gap year volunteers but Lucy Cohen, who runs Tzedek’s Go Develop initiative, believes experienced adults could benefit from donating their time and skills.

“We want to do something that addresses a gap for the partners we work with and provides an opportunity for volunteers who want to share their skills,” she said.

“It is the kind of thing that someone who is taking a break from work might do, or a retiree, or someone who wants a career change. We have opportunities in fields from education, welfare, fundraising and law.

“We have already had retired GPs contact us about what they can do.”

The positions vary from working as a researcher for an educational organisation in Tamale, Northern Ghana, to a nurse who is needed to train others in a rehabilitation centre for vulnerable women.

Other positions include a counsellor in India, who would provide support for women and young children.

Ms Cohen said: “Poverty is widespread, and despite working full weeks, many of the local inhabitants fail to earn sufficient income to ensure a decent living standard.”