Charity urges leavers to mind the gap

WOULD-BE students are being urged to consider taking a gap year before going to university or college.

Volunteering charity CSV wants school leavers who are undecided about their future to spend a year helping others.

Thomas Jones, 21, volunteered helping a young man with cerebral palsy to live independently for six months.

He said: “The volunteering opportunity gave me time to think about what career I wanted after university.

“I’m seriously considering going back to CSV to do some more volunteering, and then pursuing a career working with people with disabilities.

“I wrote down my volunteering experience in my application for university and I had five unconditional offers. I didn’t get great exam results, I think the university course leaders were very impressed with my voluntary gap year.”