Jade succeeds in some incredible fund raising efforts

Jade is off to do some voluntary work in Kenya from September 2009.

As part of her effort to realise her dream she is doing some serious fundraising.

Jade recently completed some fun activities in her local area. If you would like to find out how she did it then access her blog at: http://www.jadeinkenya.co.uk/

New format to our newsletter from March 2009

Changing Worlds are proud to update with our new and simple format to our newsletter.

Regular features will include updates on our volunteers in their placements, reviews by our Changing Worlds reps and profiles provided by our ambassadors (returned participants).

We hope you find this news letter informative and entertaining and be willing to make contributions now and again.

Best Wishes
David

Fancy dress to raise Gap Year funds

Hi all,

We have always given our volunteers fundraising tips and a volunteer called James has just had a fancy dress night at work. He's off to Ghana and had a Ghana themed evening.

There's all sorts of things people have done in the past from quiz nights to packing bags in supermarkets.

Gap Years are usually organised at least a year in advance so that gives you plenty of time to work and raise some funds, even cover the whole cost of your trip.

If you can show on your CV that not only did you do something really worthwhile on your Gap Year but you raised all the money yourself then you are given yourself a great boost to a future career as it shows commitment, organisation and desire.

If anyone has any fundraising tips or stories of their own we'd love to hear them.

Have a great weekend,

David

The answer to the language barrier when travelling

We've all been there...you're trying to ask where the nearest cash point is, or where the toilet is in a bar. Your language skills have failed you and it's reached the point where sign language is necessary.

Have a pack of these handy and you'll never be stuck again!
http://www.touristpicturecards.co.uk/

Take a healthy break

In a recent article listing the top 10 healthy holiday Australia at 81.2 years came out 6th!
"Known as a nation of sports fanatics, Australians’ enthusiasm for health and fitness ensures them a place in the top ten. The climate certainly helps visitors to enjoy the great outdoors too, with surfing, scuba diving and sun tanning popular pastimes."

Read the whole article, click here






We know from over a decade of sending Gappies to work on farms in the outback, zoo's in Brisbane and to help with outdoor education teaching at schools in Melbourne that Australia is a great place to live, even if only for a few months.

Don't just take our word for it, join our Facebook group and ask ex-volunteers about their experiences.

The best of India

There are so many reasons why you should go to India; the people, the colours, the culture, the buildings, the food, the weather, the poverty and the need for volunteers. This site also highlights some of the geographical reasons why India shouldn’t be missed:

http://www.indiamarks.com/guide/The-Best-of-India-Geographical-facts/2701

From mountains to rivers and even glaciers, India has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

We have volunteering placements in Southern India where you can work in orphanages, teach English, even work on an Indian newspaper. Once you have been eased into their way of life and immersed into the cultural values Indians adhere to you can then take that knowledge and travel round the rest of the country. Having that experience of India behind you will really help enhance your backpacking and give you greater confidence to see and do anything and everything.

Go to our website http://changingworlds.co.uk/ to find out more about our placements in India, and please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us should you have any questions. We would be delighted to help.

Volunteer Update - Thailand

At Changing Worlds we offer a highly personal service to ensure you make the most of your Gap Year. Over ¼ of our volunteers come to us from recommendations so what better way than to let a couple of our volunteers currently teaching English in Thailand tell you more:

“The teaching is going well; we have been given more English lessons to run and have been doing lots of P.E. There is talk of us maybe organising our own English camp for Souncha (ages 5-10). That won’t happen until the end march, but will look great on the old c.v. The kids and teachers are great and really friendly making teaching a breeze. This is a pretty poor school so it’s great helping out there. It’s a beautiful school perched in the mountains of northern Thailand, surrounded by views that never fail to take my breath away.”
Jamie aged 18 from Bromley, London

“Next Thursday, we are off to Bangkok with the school on a school trip. We had to pay 500 baht (so about 10 pounds) for accommodation and the bus, but so cheap. We have been told we are going to the grand palace and last night we were told that when we go to the grand palace, we won’t have to pay the 200 baht entrance fee as we are 'school teachers'. We will also get to see inside the grand palace and the government building, which if we went as tourists we would not get the chance to see!”

James aged 18 from Bromley, London

To view details of our placements in Thailand click here

Join the conversation!

As of 11:39 am on the 10th March we had 236 followers on Twitter!

We are delighted by the interest being shown in Changing Worlds and in what we have to say. You can see a feed of our updates on Twitter on the right hand side of our blog page, or follow the link above to view our profile.

This along with 730 fans on our Facebook page puts us very close to having 1000 followers across social networks. If you could tell your friends about us, or mention us on your pages then that would really help get us up to 1000 global followers which would be amazing.

We are planning to start a monthly newsletter that will provide updates about our volunteers all round the world and will feature reports from our reps in the countries we have placements.

Being a small, family run company we are delighted to be in conversation with a global audience and reassured that the current economic climate is not all doom and gloom.

So thank you all for your support and friendship!

Kindest regards,

David

Graduates getting paid to take a Gap Year!

This story just shows that some people get all the luck...what would you do with a year off and £10,000??

http://tinyurl.com/b6boew

You could do a 3-6 month placement with us to do something that will change your life and make a difference somewhere that needs you:

http://changingworlds.co.uk/