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Help an Animal Rescue in the South-West Algarve, Portugal!

5.0
(29 reviews)29

The experience

We're located in the beautiful, peaceful National Park on the South-West tip of the Algarve about 3kms away from Vila do Bispo. We provide a safe haven for animals in our refuge. Volunteers are so important to help feeding and walking the animals; cleaning their areas and houses; photographing them so they can be advertised on social media; generally caring for and spending time with them; maintaining/cleaning our garden area & buildings.



What you offer

25 hours of help per week

Cleaning: Help clean the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and common areas.

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

What you get

2 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Tent: You will sleep in a tent at a camping site.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Certificate: Get a certificate of completion after you finish your experience.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English

Over 18 years old

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Our volunteer accommodation availais as follows. In addition, we have a sheltered communal area with sofas, tables, chairs and a BBQ for everyone to use. There is a kitchen, shower room and separate toilet on site too.

Our current availability for 2025 and 2026 is below. Sometimes as people's plans change, this changes & it is updated regularly. Help needed over new year please.

Large Caravan for up to 2 people
23 February to 1 May
1 June onwards

Large Pet-friendly Caravan for up to 2 people
1- 22 March
6 April onwards

Small Pet-friendly Caravan for 1 person
5 April onwards

Tent 1 erected under a roof with extra all-round weather protection, 2 single beds, electricity and storage, for up to 2 people
14 February onwards

Tent 2 erected under a roof with extra all-round weather protection, 2 single beds, electricity and storage, for up to 2 people
6 January to 11 February
26 February onwards

We have 4 fenced in areas for people travelling in vans so people are welcome on other dates if they have their own accommodation ie:- a van or a tent & if we have space. Please contact us with your preferred dates.

We often get booked up well in advance but people sometimes have to cancel so please check back here if your initial dates were unavailable.

Are you ok with the accommodation available for when you are coming here?

Activities & Shift

We start early in the mornings, when it is cool - 8 am in the autumn, spring and winter months and 7-7:30 am in the hot summer months. We always feed the dogs at this time, give them fresh water and clean their areas.

The dogs are lovely and fun to be with.

Every day can be different depending on what happens so flexibility is important.

The tasks can be hard but very satisfying. We need people who love dogs and want to take care of them, walk them, socialise with them and help them, you might walk up to 10 km with the dogs every day if you wish.

We also need people with social media, administration, building, maintenance and gardening skills. :)

Rules

Bring clothes with you that you do not mind getting dirty & bring trainers/boots to work/walk in. It is humid here & can get wet in the winter, so waterproof foot wear would be good to bring with you. It is often cool in the morning and evenings, even in the summer, so warm clothes are a must too. Dogs bark at night so earplugs help.

We are quite isolated here so we have no mains water. We store our water from the winter rain. This means that we are very careful here with water usage. We ask you to keep showering to a minimum & turn off the water when you soap up & don't waste water. Also for drinking water you need to buy water (it costs less than 1€ for 6 litres)

Food is not included because unfortunately we do not have the funds to do this. Often volunteers meet up at lunchtime & in the evenings to cook & eat together in the communal space between the 2 large caravans.