Since 2011

It started with a small community

Long before we had a name, we were a community in Côte d'Ivoire looking out for each other. XtraMiles is that same idea, grown into a worldwide family.

Two smiling young volunteers, one in a volunteer T-shirt

Volunteers in green T-shirts talking with women in the street about a health day

Two volunteer medics at a table with a medical kit and blood pressure monitor

In 2011, while building up work in Côte d'Ivoire, we got to know the people around us. Friendships turned into a community, and that community started to look out for its own.

We arranged schooling for children who needed it. We organised free health days, bringing in medical professionals from Green Life International, a health and development organisation we worked with, to give free check-ups and medical support. At Christmas, we hosted parties for local kids. Nobody was paid, and nobody needed to be. People simply helped the people around them.

Fifteen years later, we've learned that this works anywhere people care about each other. XtraMiles gives it a clear structure and connects it across borders, so a volunteer in Lisbon can help a family in Lagos, and a team in Lima can learn from both.

Run by the people, for the people.

Our journey

2011
It starts in Côte d'Ivoire
A small group of people begins arranging local support: schooling, free health checks, medical help, and Christmas events for children.
The years between
A community grows
The work continues for years. Friends, family and strangers help each other whenever someone needs it.
2026
XtraMiles is born
We give the idea a name and a structure, and open it to volunteers in every country.

Where it started

Moments from our early years in Côte d'Ivoire, shared with the permission of the people in them. The green T-shirts and white coats you'll see belong to Green Life International, who provided the medical teams for our health days.

The early volunteer team posing together around a meeting table — Our early team

Volunteers in suits greeting medics under a red and white tent — Opening a free health day

An older woman smiling as she waits for her check-up, with a queue of people behind her — Queueing for free check-ups

A volunteer doctor checking an older woman's blood pressure — Free blood pressure checks

Young volunteers in green T-shirts registering people at a table outdoors — Volunteers registering visitors

Team members walking through a market street with a local woman — Out in the community

Children with a volunteer next to a Christmas tree — Christmas with local children

Three smiling girls in white headscarves at a community event — Young guests at a community day

What we believe

By the people, for the people

No paid staff deciding from far away. People help people, and the community runs the community.

Help that lasts

We don't do handouts. Where a problem could come back, we help people build a plan to own what comes next.

Everything in the open

Every published case, plan, update and final report is public, so anyone can see what we do and how.

One worldwide family

Cases can be local, but help can come from anywhere. Someone in Germany can help solve a case in China, and the other way round.

Dignity always

People choose what we share about them. First names only, no exact addresses, no photos without permission.

Who we're part of

XtraMiles is the humanitarian pillar of Isengaard. Isengaard brings together everything we do that isn't about earning money, but about doing good.

Isengaard is part of Judland LLC. The round emblem in our logo is the Judland flag, a reminder of where XtraMiles comes from.

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