About Us

Our core objective is ‘making a difference’ and joining us on one of our specially developed volunteer programmes gives you exactly that opportunity.

Tiny Island Volunteers was founded by a pair of travel professionals who, over the last fifteen years, have lived and worked around the world in some of our planets most beautiful locations. They felt their influences and experiences could be used positively to promote social awareness and ‘give something back’ to some of the amazing places they have gained so much from.

Of course this is only half of the equation.  The other half of our team are all Maldivians who generously give pretty much every minute of their spare time to improving the lives of their own island communities, as well as selflessly fighting to protect the local environment we all are blessed to call home.

It is within these strong communities that we set up our community run programmes, such as our Tiny Island Conservation programme, which is a 100% community run charity project.  Currently this programme is running a Tiny Island Turtle Nursery and Head Start Programme, which tends and cares for countless sea turtles in preparation for safely releasing them at five months old.  These types of initiatives are vital to consistently educate and encourage the local communities to embrace marine life, rather than unwittingly destroy it.

Tiny Island Volunteers is designed to help you, as an individual, ‘make a difference’ and ‘give something back’.  We open the door and create a bridge to allow other like-minded individuals to experience these hidden places of paradise, but knowing you did responsibly and that you made a positive difference in the process.

Our Policy

Responsibility and sustainability is at the heart of Tiny Island Volunteers.  We take volunteers to tiny islands in a social and environmentally responsible manner, ensuring everyone involved respects and maintains the natural and often delicate balance of the destination.

As travellers ourselves, we are well aware of the impact that tourism can have and whilst economic gain from tourism is often fundamental to a country, it should never be at the expense of its culture or the environment. It is our aim to provide journeys that have minimal negative and maximum positive impact on the places we visit. We do not believe that, as visitors, we should impose our own cultures on others; rather that we should experience foreign cultures and appreciate them for what they are.

We believe giving something back is essential. We therefore work with our volunteers and the people we visit to ensure the benefits go directly to contributing to local cultures and environmental conservation. This is not only good for the communities we visit but it also gives our volunteers a more enriched adventures.

Supporting and involving local people

  • We recruit and involve local people wherever possible.
  • We support and prefer to work directly with NGO's local businesses, services and individuals.
  • Our supplies and equipment are purchased locally wherever possible.
  • We aim to work and treat the volunteer traveller, local communities and businesses in a fair and just manner.
  • We aim to work with partners who operate their own local initiatives.
  • We only use small, family-run establishments for our volunteer accommodation.
  • Where it is practical but not intrusive, we stay as guests of local families.

Environmental sensitivity:

  • We assist in community led conservation programmes, such as Tiny Island Conservation
  • We are efficient in our use of natural resources.
  • We minimise environmental damage for items that can carry a negative impact, for example rubbish, as      well as running regular anti-litter incentives and marine pollution programs.
  • We aim to leave uninhabited islands and beaches in a better condition than we find them.
  • Our group sizes are small, helping minimise cultural and environmental impact.
  • We always abide by site-specific guidelines pertaining to marine conservation.
  • We aim to work with companies that share our commitment to  environmental responsibility

One of the core objectives of Tiny Island Volunteers is to lead by example and keep our own house in order. Our staff are aware of the importance of the need to reduce, re-use and recycle. Everyone is encouraged to follow a set of guidelines which cover simple but important measures such as conserving energy, minimising waste and reducing our carbon footprint.