Camps International offer structured gap year programmes that help you improve your CV.

(TRAVPR.COM) DORSET - January 22nd, 2013 - It’s a new year and the 15th January was the last chance to get your UCAS application in. Now is the time to make some of the most important decisions of your life. With the current economic downturn, it is more important than ever to improve your career and university applications in any way you can.

Students all over the UK have now made the decision to apply for further education or possibly due to higher fees enter the workplace. What can you do to make you stand out from the crowd? Camps international are world leaders in responsible travel, specialising in gap year volunteering opportunities to Africa, Asia and South America. Their volunteer programmes last between 2 to 12 weeks and unique to the industry every trip includes a variety of project work on community, wildlife and environmental projects.

Whatever you decide, if you need something extra to help you why not consider volunteering on your gap year. Starting from £900 (excl flights) you can become part of an international operation that aims to benefit communities, the environment and wildlife in some of the poorest parts of the globe. You can see the world, experience new cultures, meet new people, and know that you are giving something back.

“Choosing the right company to travel with is an important start”. Says Stuart Rees Jones CEO of Camps International. “There are a lot of companies who offer life changing experiences on a gap year. I think it is so important that it is not a one-way street that just benefits the traveler. Ensure that it is not just you that benefits but the communities and environments you will be visiting”.

Using a unique business model Camps International ensures that a large proportion of the client’s money is invested into the local economy. “We source our food locally, build our camps from local materials and most importantly have over 150 local employees running the camps.” Said Rees Jones. “Our volunteers are contributing to the local area before they even set foot on the ground.”

Employers and Universities are wise to the difference between a year off partying and a well-structured gap year encompassing a mix of fun and hard work. “Volunteering on something worthwhile like improving educational facilities for rural villages is seen as a commitment to the greater good.” The length of time you spend on a project is not as important as knowing that you are part of something bigger and long lasting. Choosing a company that can prove the sustainability of its projects is another important deciding factor.

“With a couple of thousand school students passing through our camps each year, volunteers can be involved in a project that has gone on for 2-3 years and been worked on by hundreds of different people. The knowledge that one day the project will be complete and that you were part of it can be very fulfilling.”

“Make the most of the time you have to travel and see the world. Use some of that time to give something back to the world and you will be the better for it.” Says Rees Jones, its not often in life you get the chance to help yourself and others at the same time.

For more information about Camps International’s gap year programmes please visit - www.campsinternational.com/school-team-expeditions.

Alternatively contact James Chetwode jamesc@campsinternational.co.uk or call +44 (0)1425 485 390.

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