I-to-i, an adventure travel company that specialises in volunteer placements overseas, said the number of 18- to 25-year-olds who have booked a volunteer experience in countries such as India, China and Africa has increased by 90% since 2003.

"Events in the world are having an increasing effect on young people and they are more concerned with environmental, conservation and social issues worldwide, " said Megan Hogan of i-to-i.

Tom Ryder of Voluntary Services International (VSI), which co-ordinates shortterm placements on projects, said the number of students volunteering to do unpaid work in the developing world now stands at around 50 a year compared to between 20 and 25 a few years ago.

"There has also been a huge increase in the number of agencies organising voluntary work, reflecting the growing interest in working abroad not just from students but also people in the middle of their career who want to take a break from work to do something different, " said Ryder.

Des Burke of the European Voluntary Service (EVS), an EU-funded organisation which organises volunteers for projects in Ireland and Europe, met with the Union of Students in Ireland last week to inform them that the duration of their projects has been reduced from a minimum of six months to two months.

"We expect that the new two-month placements next year will generate a lot of interest among students, " said Burke.

Volunteers working on an EVS project have their air fares paid, and accommodation and food is provided by the host organisation. Volunteers are also paid what Burke described as a "small amount of pocket money".

With VSI, volunteers have to pay their own air fare but accommodation and meals are provided.

I-to-i charges what it calls a 'placement fee', which covers food and accommodation but not travel and insurance. These fees range from 1,545 for four weeks teaching English and conserving the wildlife in Madagascar to a 'premier' package costing 2,395 for four weeks of community work with orphaned children in Xi'an in China.

Megan Hogan says these fees are to cover the cost of checking out each project to ensure it is safe, secure and viable.

"We provide support including a 24-hour freephone helpline in case there are any problems, " said Hogan.

Students Eoghan O'Doherty, 20, Ann Lynch, 21, and Katriona Doughty, 21, went a step further. As well as paying for their own flight to South Africa, they raised almost 3,000 to give to the Little Eden home for severely mentally handicapped and Aids victims outside Johannesburg, where they will do volunteer work for the next two months. The placement was organised through the Oblate youth service in Inchicore in Dublin.

"It is an opportunity to experience something special. I will never get the chance to take two months off work and do this again, " said O'Doherty, a science student at TCD.

For Doughty the work in Little Eden complements her psychology course at UCD. "I am hoping to do clinical psychology when I finish. They let us sit in on the sessions here so this is of great benefit to me."

Ann Lynch has finished her two-year bakery and food management course and is using the experience to consider her next step. "I may go on in catering but I might do nursing instead, " she said.

It's no picnic. "We start work at 6.30am and finish around 6pm. But we get the weekends off, " says Lynch.