What is a gapyear? 
A gapyear is the option you have to take time out, maybe a year, probably at 18, definitely by the time you are 24. It doesn't have to be a year (it could be 2 weeks or two years) and it doesn't have to be about travel. Basically you have time ahead of you when you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, for however ever long you want, as many times as you want!! It doesn't have to cost you money and it can help you get into university and will certainly help you find work. People like those who get off their backsides and do stuff with their life!

How can we help you?
If you are thinking about taking a gapyear then this is where we come in. gapyear.com is the largest gapyear community in the UK. Meet people in the same boat live online, share experiences, ideas, information and advice. Vote on issues you think are important, rate companies, have your say and get involved. The site is fully live and interactive, packed with articles by people who have done it and live accounts from gappers around the world and in the UK. Run by young people who have been there, done that, we have everything you need to get you started It's a cool site, we love running it and people seem to enjoy what we do… so get stuck in!

What can you do on a gapyear?
A gapyear is an opportunity to take time out to do either something you enjoy, something you have always wanted to do (but have never got round to), or to do something completely different. John Dalziel is now presenting his own evening show and co-presenting the breakfast show as sidekick 'T Boy' on Kix FM. One lad joined the foreign legion for a year, a girl joined the circus and another lad walked across Australia in World Record time (a diabetic who also raised £10,000 for charity). Nutter!

Whilst some take the opportunity to take time out to learn a new language, build websites, write books, set up a band, coach football, earn money for uni, get work experience in a career they are thinking about or star on the stage / on TV, others teach kids in China, go on kids camps in America, cycle the length of Chile, climb Everest, play rugby for Wales, swim in the Olympics, ski for Britain, play rounders with disadvantaged kids in Milton Keynes, deliver boats across the Atlantic, sail tallships round Europe, clear canals in the Midlands and rainforest paths in the Amazon, bring water and medication to starving kids in Africa, and shopping to old folks round the corner…

So whether you want to fulfill your dreams by swimming with dolphins, doing the worlds biggest bungee jumps, rafting massive rivers, sitting on Ayers Rock and wrestling hippos in Botswana (not recommended), or you simply want to take a year out to chill, check out all the options open to you and work out what you really want to do in life, then gapyear.com should be the next stop for you. All the best work experience, job vacancies and travel deals you’ll find on the web, we also work with the Foreign Office to ensure that if you do travel that you do it safely – everything gapyear and more! See you there…

Tom Griffiths, Founder, gapyear.com

www.gapyear.com