African Adventures has teamed up with Manchester Grammar to offer its students a unique opportunity to volunteer in Kenya – and you’re invited to join!
African Adventures is a unique volunteer travel company, dedicated to improving lives in the UK and Africa. We work with 17 schools in Nakuru, Kenya, that help improve the lives of the 3,500 children who attend.
Manchester Grammar’s 10-night trip takes place on 26th March 2027 (TBC). You’ll make a real difference by volunteering at Shiners School in Kisumu, where you can help teach in lessons or coach sports. Away from volunteering, you’ll have the opportunity to discover everything that Kenya has to offer on our Rift Valley Adventure Day. A trip to the Giraffe Centre is also included.
Why Get Involved?
Our volunteers bring our work to life by helping your partner school achieve incredible goals, such as building a new primary school, constructing toilet blocks, creating an IT suite or helping build a new classroom block to reduce overcrowding in lessons.
Not only will you make a real difference to children’s live in Africa, but you will return home with your horizons broadened and memories to last a lifetime.
Adventure Activities
Away from volunteering, you’ll have the opportunity to experience our Rift Valley Adventure Day. You’ll get up close to amazing animals, enjoy a breathtaking safari drive and visit the Equator and hike down Thomson Falls, one of the deepest waterfalls in East Africa. A trip to Giraffe Centre is also included where you will get up close and personal with the endangered Rothschild Giraffe. What more could you want!?
About Kenya
The Location
The trip will take place in Kisumu, located on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya, is one of the country’s cities and an important regional hub for trade and transport. The city’s economy is closely linked to fishing, agriculture, and growing commercial activity, while its lakeside setting supports both livelihoods and tourism. Despite its significance, many communities in Kisumu face challenges such as limited access to quality education, healthcare, and reliable infrastructure, highlighting the need for continued investment and support.
Where You'll Stay
The group will stay at a 3* hotel just outside the centre of Nakuru. Volunteers will share single-sex rooms, which have an en-suite, with 2-3 other volunteers. The hotel benefits from a large outdoor space, restaurant, WiFi and a private room to be used by the group for breakfast and evening meals, and as a social space. The hotel also has 24-hour security, CCTV and a security wall around its perimeter. African Adventures has been working with the hotel since 2015 and it is a perfect base for our volunteer groups.
Trip information
Trip Costs
Trip package
What's included?
- Return indirect flights to Nairobi from Indirect Manchester
- Bespoke volunteer travel insurance following full payment of 1st instalment
- Rift Valley Adventure Day
- Giraffe Centre
- All accommodation
- Three meals per day (except adventure weekend & transit days)
- All in-country transportation
- Orientation upon arrival, 24-hour in-country support and dedicated Trip Host
- Pre-planned project work and charitable donation to make it happen
- Giraffe sanctuary visit and farewell celebration
- Access to our online portal, My AA, for trip details, pre-departure support & fundraising ideas
- African Adventures t-shirt
What's not included?
- Kenya entry ETA. Approximately US$30
- Drinks, snacks and general spending money
- Travel vaccinations and anti-malarial tablets as advised by your doctor/ travel clinic
- Individual pop up mosquito net (optional)
- DBS check (or your national equivalent) over 18s. Approximately £50 (excludes teaching staff)
- Additional excursions may incur a small fee
- Partner school gifts and/or donations, and other tips (optional)
FAQS
Lots!
Most people who travel with us are visiting sub-Saharan for the first time, so you’ll get access to lots of help and advice to get ready for your trip, including what to pack, when to apply for your visa, what your destination country is going to be like and much more. And once you’ve arrived, you’ll be looked after by our friendly team of expert Trip Hosts.
If you have any questions about your trip, just give our friendly team a call, and we’ll be happy to help.
No, but the most rewarding experiences rarely are! You are likely to be stepping out of your comfort zone, meeting new people, travelling to a new country, in a different environment and with a different culture.
This will be an exciting challenge for you but you will have plenty of support whilst you are away. Our trained Trip Leaders and Trip Hosts will be there to look after you and your fellow volunteers.
If you’ve not been to this part of the world before, you’ll need some vaccinations before you go.
Please visit your local GP or travel nurse for advice regarding which vaccinations you need. You can also visit www.travelhealthpro.org.uk or www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk for helpful information relating to each of our volunteering destinations.
Most vaccinations needed are available on the NHS. However, you will need to pay for the Yellow Fever vaccination and antimalarial tablets. More information is available on the My African Adventure portal.
In a word, yes! Of course, there are risks with any form of travel, whether you’re going to Los Angeles, Lima or London but hundreds of thousands of Britons travel to Africa every year and the majority of visits are trouble free.
At African Adventures, we have organised trips for over 7,000 volunteers and hold a wealth of experience. From pre-departure support and in-country orientations to knowing nearby hospitals and medical centres, we know how to deliver a safe and exciting experience. We are accredited by reputable travel bodies (see Trusted and Experienced) and we follow Foreign & Commonwealth (FCO) advice at all times; www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.
Volunteers stay in single-sex, shared accommodation for the duration of the programme. In Kenya, the group will stay in a private guesthouse.
All accommodations have showers, flushing toilets and lockable rooms.
Further information (including pictures) is available on My African Adventure, our online portal accessible once you have signed up.
About 50% of our volunteers raise at least half their trip costs through fundraising alone. With good planning, the right commitment and enthusiasm, you can too.
Once you sign up, you get access to a wide range of fundraising support. You can set up your own sponsorship page on your My African Adventure account to help raise money for your trip (if you’re making all your payments directly to African Adventures), you can join free six-weekly online fundraising workshops, and there are lots of downloadable posters/bucket wraps to use too. You also get a fundraising t-shirt from African Adventures a few weeks after booking.
However, if it proves to be too difficult to raise the money you need, and you decide to cancel, you can do so at any time. Please be aware that the deposit is non-refundable and there are cancellation fees from the date of your first instalment.
No, African Adventures is a for-profit social enterprise.
Lots of our volunteers fundraise to cover their trip costs, which is an important part of the African Adventures experience. The money that volunteers raise pays for their travel costs, so things like flights, accommodation, tours, and the staff who deliver our trips. A portion of every volunteer’s trip cost is also given to the partner school hosting the group, as a donation to fund the work being carried out.
We do, however, have a charity arm called African Adventures Foundation. 90p in every £1 donated will go directly to our efforts supporting schools in Africa. 10p in every £1 will go towards the essential operational costs that make this work possible. You can read more about our official charity by visiting www.africanadventures.co.uk/foundation.
Contact Alistair White, our Partnerships Coordinator at alistair.white@africanadventures.co.uk or call 023 8184 3502.