Volunteer this New Year

Give something back after the excesses of the festive season with a volunteer holiday (28th Jan – 6th Feb 2008, trip must be booked by 27th November) that lets you experience one of America’s most vibrant and colourful cities, as well help out on a volunteer project building homes for musicians who lost theirs during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Upmarket volun-tourism tour operator, Hands Up Holidays is offering visitors a special opportunity to combine the excitement of the world renowned Mardi Gras with the chance to work on the “Musicians' Village” project developed by Habitat for Humanity for the musicians displaced by the hurricanes. This 9-day trip costs £1,220 per person.

New Orleans’ culture depends on the local musicians; they are the lifeblood of this great city and the major draw for thousands of visitors each year who come to soak up the city’s culture and history. As many can not afford to return to the city, the “musician’s project” has been established to build up to 70 affordable homes to give them a place to return to.

Taking place from 28th January until 6th February 2008, this nine-day holiday blends incredible sightseeing with a meaningful and highly rewarding volunteering experience. Highlights include a walking tour of the historic French quarter, plantation and swamp tours; a scenic flight over the city and wetlands, and a steamboat dinner cruise on the Mississippi.

The icing on the cake though is the once in a lifetime opportunity to go to the exclusive Mardi Gras black tie ball that takes place on 5th February. This centuries old tradition began in Paris in 1699, but it is the New Orleans’s Mardi Gras that is top of most travellers list of things to do.

This volunteer holiday costs £1,220 per person and includes bed and breakfast accommodation at the historic Hotel Monteleone in the heart of the French Quarter, transfers, river cruise dinner and plantation lunch, plus the days on the volunteer project. International flights to New Orleans are not included in the price. Holiday must be booked by 27 November 2007.

For more information and bookings, visit handsupholidays.com.