About New Ventures Worldwide
We have been helping young people find their place in the world for a long time. Here is our story.
Who We Are
New Ventures Worldwide is a UK-registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation connecting 18 to 30 year olds with meaningful volunteering placements across eight countries. We work with carefully vetted schools, outdoor camps and community organisations to match volunteers with roles where they can make a genuine difference, gain real experience, and return home changed in ways they did not fully anticipate when they left.
We are a small, dedicated team with a big shared belief: that a year spent doing something that matters, somewhere new, with people who genuinely need you, is one of the most valuable things a young person can do.
Our Story
New Ventures Worldwide was founded in 2021 by James Langdon, but the story behind it goes back much further than that.
The NVW team carries the legacy of Lattitude Global Volunteering, one of the world’s most respected gap year organisations, which itself grew out of GAP Activity Projects, the organisation widely credited with coining the phrase “gap year.” For decades, these organisations sent thousands of young people aged 18 to 30 on life-changing volunteering placements around the world. When Lattitude closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, a wealth of experience, expertise and passion for international volunteering found a new home in NVW.
What we have built since is rooted in that legacy. The same commitment to rigorous vetting, careful matching and genuine volunteer support. The same belief that the best gap year is one built around real responsibility and real relationships, not a packaged tourist experience. And the same understanding that when a young person steps up to do something challenging and meaningful, they rarely come back the same.
Since our founding we have supported thousands of volunteers across more than 30 placements in eight countries, and we are just getting started.
What Our Volunteers Tell Us
We ask volunteers for honest feedback during their placements. Here is what they say.
98% of volunteers agree or strongly agree that they are happy with their role at their placement.
99% of volunteers agree or strongly agree that they can contact a member of NVW staff whenever they need to.
A Message From Our Founder
James Langdon | Founder & Director, New Ventures Worldwide
“I have spent my entire career in international volunteering because I have seen first-hand what it does to people. Not just the confidence and the skills and the CV, but something deeper than that. A shift in how they see the world and their place in it. That is what we are trying to give every volunteer who comes to NVW, and it is what gets me out of bed every morning.”
Our Mission
To connect young people with meaningful volunteering experiences that challenge them, develop them, and leave a lasting positive impact on the communities they serve.
Our Vision
A world where every young person has the opportunity to step beyond their comfort zone, contribute something real, and return home with a broader understanding of the world and their own potential within it.
Our Values
The principles that shape everything we do.
Everything we do is built around the people involved, the volunteers who trust us with their gap year, the young people and communities they serve, and the organisations that host them. We take that responsibility seriously.
We vet every placement personally. We visit every organisation annually. We match every volunteer thoughtfully. We do not cut corners because the people involved deserve better than that.
We tell volunteers and their families what to expect, including the parts that are challenging. A gap year is not always easy, and pretending otherwise does nobody any favours.
We believe volunteering should leave things better than it found them. We work only with organisations where volunteers make a real and meaningful contribution, not a token one.
We draw on decades of combined experience in international volunteering to do this well. That experience shapes every decision we make, from how we vet placements to how we support volunteers when things get hard.
Why Choose NVW
What makes us different, and why it matters.
We know our placements personally
Every organisation we work with is known to us directly. We have visited them, assessed them, and built relationships with them over time. We do not list placements we have not vetted and re-visit every placement annualy.
We are a registered charity
NVW is a UK-registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation, charity number 1202056. Our finances are reported annually to the UK Charity Commission. We are not a commercial gap year company; we are a nonprofit organisation whose sole purpose is to make this work as well as possible for the volunteers and communities involved.
We have decades of experience behind us
The NVW team carries the collective experience of some of the most respected names in international volunteering. We have seen what works and what does not, and we have built NVW around what does.
We are on the ground, not just on the phone
Our team is spread across six countries, including the UK, Spain, Poland, Australia, Ecuador and Argentina. That means when you arrive at your placement, the person supporting you knows the country, the culture and the context from lived experience, not just from a distance.
We support you properly
From your first application to the moment you return home, you have a named Programme Manager looking out for you. We prepare you thoroughly before you leave, check in regularly while you are away, and are always available when something comes up.
A track record you can trust
Since our founding we have supported thousands of volunteers across more than 30 placements in eight countries. Behind every one of those placements is the same careful vetting, thoughtful matching and genuine support that defines everything we do.