Volunteering holiday specialists Oyster Worldwide have seen a growing trend in families switching traditional holidays for volunteering vacations.

The gap year and responsible travel experts saw a 63% rise in family bookings in 2016 compared to 2015.

Oyster Worldwide offer a variety of projects for intrepid families to participate in – ranging from short one-week holidays to longer-term experiences.

One project which has been particularly popular with family groups is the opportunity to work with orphaned and mistreated monkeys and baboons in South Africa. The project lasts from one to two weeks and families play an active role in rehabilitating the abandoned primates back into the wild.

Another project which Oyster Worldwide have found to be popular with families is their Costa Rica turtle conservation experience. With this project, families can enjoy the golden sandy beaches of Costa Rica while also helping to protect turtles from extinction.

Other family volunteering projects offered by Oyster Worldwide include volunteering with elephants in Thailand and wildlife conservation in Borneo.

“More and more families are seeing the value in spending their vacation time taking part in a volunteering project where they can really make a difference” says Oyster Worldwide Operations Manager Jon Arnold.

“Family holidays used to be about package holidays in beach destinations but we have seen a growing number of families realise that volunteering together is a great way to bond as a family and create lifelong memories.”

With Mother's Day just around the corner why not ask the kids to skip the breakfast in bed and flowers this year, and instead use the celebration as a time to plan a volunteering break together.

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For further media enquiries contact Catriona McGale (Catriona@justtravelpr.co.u