Earlier this month our teams of Lattitude experts manned booths at both the Toronto and Vancouver Study and Go Abroad fairs. There we had the pleasure of speaking with local young people who were looking to step outside their local communities and study, work or volunteer abroad. The response was phenomenal and we we enjoyed the opportunity to speak with hundreds of potential volunteers.
For information on future shows please visit their website http://www.recruitincanada.com/
Do you know of a Fair or Convention in your city that Lattitude might be able to attend? Perhaps your school would be able to host us for a presentation? If so please contact with information!
Melissa Vassallo and Pia Kuittinen speak with local young people at the Vancouver Study and Go Abroad fair.
Melissa Vassallo and Karen Waters speak with young people at the Vancouver Study and Go Abroad fair.
David Nield and Beverley Trull speak with local young people at the Study and Go Abroad fair in Toronto
A well-choreographed group of volunteers put on a show for their students at Shalom Christian College in Townsville Australia. These volunteers are working as School Assistants in our Indigenous Education program. Click on the link below to have a look!
I am very pleased to announce Lattitude now has placements in France! This will be exciting news to the many Canadian volunteers who have French. We are offering a few Schools Assistant placements at a boarding school just outside of Paris. Below are some details on the placement itself. Space is very limited and these are sure to go quickly. If you, or anyone you know might be interested, please get in touch soon!
Placement outline
Start date
September or January
End date
End of December or End of June
Overall duration
Approx 4 , 6, or 10 months
Holidays and term times
TBD
Please give details of public liability insurance and amount of cover
TBD
Placement location
Ermitage, Maisons-Laffitte, France
Placement directions
Eurostar train; flight to Paris (CDG) and/or local RATP train to Maisons-Laffitte. Taxi service also possible.
Local amenities and available facilities
Bank: Société Générale, Banque Populaire, CIC, BNP Paribas, (HSBC in Paris)
Post office: Yes
Doctor/Clinic: Yes + Hospital across from Middle School
Local shops: boutiques and traditional French artisans, in addition to plenty of great shopping in Paris.
Local places of interest
Paris, Versailles, Disneyland Paris
Local climate
Better than the UK
Local entertainment
Paris (museums, concerts, shows, shopping, expat groups, etc.)
Volunteer requirements
Number of volunteers that can be taken at this placement
2-4 (TBD on a yearly basis)
Age range acceptable
18-25 years
Volunteer gender requirements
Both male and female volunteers would be okay
Volunteer role and responsibilities description
Taking an active part in the dorm life, during the week and on certain weekends;
Acting as house-parent when it is needed;
Organizing weekend and evening activities for boarders
Helping in school classes at all levels (lower, middle, and upper school);
Leading sport, cultural, educational activities; (such as Photography Club, School Newspaper Club, etc.)
Helping in the various administrative offices;
Assisting in Library Duties;
Accompanying school groups on outings and excursions.
Minimum language competency or skills required
English-speaking, interest in learning French and/or basic understanding of language.
Volunteer skills or expertise preferences
Swimming
Rugby
Football
Basketball
Tennis
Horse riding
Dance
Drama
Music
Arts
IT
Scouts or Guides
Duke of Edinburgh
Boarding school experience
First aid
Life saving qualification
Suitable/recommended clothing
Business casual for work and relaxed otherwise
Pre-departure training requests
Lattitude global volunteering can provide:
Pre-departure briefing
In-country orientation
And arrange additional teaching skills course if required
Please enter any other information you feel relevant to the position
Gap students should be comfortable working independently and taking the initiative with their schedule/projects.
We are willing to accept volunteers of the following nationalities
Australian
British
Canadian
Ecuadorian
Ghanaian
German
New Zealander
South African
Spanish
Any other European
Any other world wide
Role description
Role, responsibilities and duties
Refer to Volunteer role and responsibilities description
Schedule/programme of likely daily activities
Refer to Volunteer role and responsibilities description
Earlier this month all of our country program managers, regional directors and senior staff traveled to the Lattitude head office in Reading UK. This was an exciting week filled with informative sessions and discussions designed to educate and inform our management staff. It was also a great chance for our managers to get to know one another better and socialize face to face. We work together everyday but for many this was the first time meeting in person and certainly the first time everyone was together in one place at one time. As you can see there were lots of smiles and a few pints shared.
The meeting hotel in Reading
Afternoon tea anyone
Stuart Sutton-Jones (Director, North America), Glyn Williams (Director, Asia and Pacific) and Beata Skokowska (Poland Country Manager)
Henry Cartey: Ghana Country Manager
David Kirton: Fiji Country Manager
Stuart Sutton-Jones: Director of North America
Sergio Gallego-Schmid (Reading office) introduces Jo Walsh (Melbourne office) to new UK staff member Shana DeSilva
The local pub Pitcher & Piano
I like this name for a store
LGV headquarters!
Knock knock, who’s there?
Derek!
It was an excellent session at headquarters of sharing of experiences and information
Learning from each other
Thanks – it was a most enjoyable and informative week! Hope we can all meet up again in person! Skype and all the technology in the world cannot replace human face-to-face contact!
An unfortunate coincidence has been brought to our attention recently. It appears a Canadian charity by the name of “The Latitude Foundation” has had its charity registration revoked for misappropriation of funds. We assure you this has nothing to do with Lattitude Global Volunteering and is in no way related to our organisation or any of our offices abroad.
This past summer I visited camps around Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta to have feedback from our wonderful volunteers on their gap experience in Canada
The sign at the entrance of YMCA Camp Chief Hector’s 1000 acre site at the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, one of the largest Outdoor Centers in Canada,.
Bowfort Lodge – one of two lodges at Camp Chief Hector
Fresh from a swim with the kids and ready for an art and crafts project is Laura who has been volunteering as a camp counsellor at Camp Chief Hector since January.
All outdoor education centres (camps) have some kind of climbing structure.At the start of each season our volunteers go through several days of intensive staff training. Belaying is one of the outdoor skills our volunteers learn as camp counsellors.
Both low and high ropes courses can be found at out outdoor education centres (camps) and our volunteers are instructing campers how to negotiate their way around these courses.
Nikki and I caught up with Hannah who was looking forward to travelling down to the States. Many of our gappers take the opportunity to travel around North America, on both sides of the border.
During Spring and Summer, campers and our volunteer camp counsellors have the opportunity to go horse riding at some camps.
Morgan who has had a blast at Chief Hector since January commented on how different the various seasons were (winter/spring/summer) and the work during the various seasons.
Jordy has enjoyed her experience as a camp counsellor at Chief Hector and learnt how challenging it can be dealing with children’s emotions. However, she said staff was always on hand to help when needed.
Chris’ experience at Camp Chief Hector has definitely exceeded his expectations. He’s gained lots of confidence since his arrival. He couldn’t imagine leading camp fire songs to a group of some 200 kids before arrival. Now? No worries.
Kamp Kiwanis is one of our smaller camps an hour west of Calgary. As we have placements at both larger and smaller camps, volunteers have the option of choosing to work with a smaller group or with 100 staff in the busy summer season.
I enjoyed meeting Jessica at Kiwanis and our four gappers Emma, Emily, Kieran and Hazel. Working in a smaller group create opportunities for very close ‘family like’ friendships.
All camps in Canada require staff to have Standard First Aid with CPR C (including children) including our volunteers. Many of our camps have either a pool on site or are located near a lake, river or ocean. Depending on the location of the camp and their needs, volunteers may also be required to have strong swimming skills and a lifesaving qualification such as Bronze Medallion.
In Canada, volunteers have the opportunity to work at caring camps which are camps for those ‘differently abled’. These camps accommodate campers who have special needs, which may be physical or mental. Camp Horizon located an hour west of Calgary.
The outdoor pool at Camp Horizon has beach access to allow entry into the pool for campers in wheel chairs.
Heidi and I stand in front of this amazing high ropes course. Camp counsellors hoist up and help campers in wheel chairs navigate the course 20 ft in the air!
Leila joined Heidi and myself for a chat on her return from river rafting with her group of kids with diabetes.
I enjoyed meeting Genevieve, Connor, Mason and Will at YoWoChAs Outdoor Education Centre west of Edmonton.
Some camps are located by a lake such as this one. (YoWoChAs)
The best learning come from play. As a camp counsellor you’ll spend your days leading kids in various activities teaching through play.
YMCA-YWCA youth development centres across Canada are have hosted our volunteers over the years including this one.
Lattitude strives to develop global citizens by immersing youth in other cultures. Besides the opportunity to experience Canadian culture, gappers can expect to work alongside gappers from other countries as well. Camp Warwa, an hour west of Edmonton.
Ali, Armand, Lauren and Andrea from the UK, France, New Zealand and Australia at Camp Warwa. At camp you’ll have ample opportunities to dress up and play silly games. Bring clothing that you don’t mind if it is ruined by the end of your gap year.
Tabitha Mede, a Canadian volunteer from Nanaimo BC, sent us the following photo from the recent UK orientation. She and a group of other Canadian volunteers took a walking tour of Westminster. We are thrilled to see they have landed safely and are taking in some of the sights. We wish them lots of luck and hope they are having a wonderful time settling in to their new surroundings.
If you have photos you would like to share from placements present or past please send them to us at info@lattitudecanada.org. We would love to see and share them with our other volunteers!
Lattitude host YMCA Camp Elphinstone has put together a fun lip dub video showcasing their camp. It will make you want to sing along and go to camp! There are even some Lattitude volunteers among the performers. Take a look!
