It's that old dilemma: do you use your fortnight in the sun to relax and recharge your batteries or should you try to change the world instead? If you're working hard most of the year, you could be forgiven for choosing the former - but travel operator Hands Up Holidays allows you to do both.

How so? Well, the company offers 150 different trips that allow you to bookend meaningful volunteer work with an upmarket holiday. The idea has proved particularly popular among single females of all ages - although trips are suited to just about everyone.

Hands Up has just added eight new trips to its itinerary - many in far-flung destinations. Want some examples? You could help out in an orphanage in Ghana, get involved in tsumani-relief operations on the Andaman coast in Thailand or join the team on a Maori-owned organic farm in New Zealand.

If time is limited, however, there are plenty of opportunities closer to home. For example, you can help out with a flood-relief programme in Serbia - repairing and renovating houses, cleaning roads or teaching English to the locals. However, the four-day trip also includes a sightseeing tour of Belgrade, dinner on the Danube river and a visit to the stunning Kalemegdan fortress - plus you'll be staying in a comfortable city hotel. The cost? Around £1,100 per person.

Alternatively, you can join a 15-day trip to Turkey - where you'll explore Istanbul, visit the underground cities of Cappadocia and go sailing and snorkelling on the Mediterranean, as well as join in the Community Development project to plant trees and paint schools. Accommodation varies from basic to very comfortable throughout the holiday. Again, the cost is around £1,100 per person.

For more information about the trips available, go to www.handsupholidays.com.

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