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Being Eligible for Real Gap Projects
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Here at Real Gap we want as many of you as possible to experience all the many wonders of the world with our projects and travel programmes abroad but we have to put in place some restrictions to make sure that our projects are getting people who we know will work really hard, be passionate about the cause and be respectful to cultural differences.
Below are the criteria that our participants must meet to be eligible for our hundreds of wonderful projects:
Age
We send a wide range of ages to our projects/programmes, the majority of them fall within the 18 to 30 category, although this is not in any way prescriptive. We will consider 17 year olds but only with parental consent. We also ask that any 17 year olds who wish to apply for the projects understand what the project and the differing cultures and challenges entail - applicants need to be able to cope. |
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If you are over the age of 30, have a look round our Gap Year For Grown Ups website!
Nationality
We welcome all nationalities at Real Gap, but please be aware that many of the countries in which we operate projects have visa restrictions. It will be your responsibility to sort out your visa, as we are only able to arrange visas for residents of the UK.
CRB
All participants who take part in a volunteer project that works with children or vulnerable adults and communities will need to have their details submitted for an enhanced check by the Criminal Records Bureau. If you have a criminal conviction that is relevant to the volunteer work you wish to take part in, Real Gap reserves the right to cancel your booking. Currently we can only offer CRB checks for residents of the UK but this is likely to change in the future.
Health and Fitness
Due to the nature of some of our projects, we ask that our participants are in good health and are of a reasonable fitness. If you have a disability, please discuss your project choices with the team, who will be able to give you information on the nature of the project work, accommodation, accessibility and so on. You must also advise us of any allergies, or medical conditions at booking.
Responsibility
Real Gap project participants are asked to be open-minded and tolerant of the cultures, traditions, beliefs and ways of life that they will be experiencing on our projects. In this respect we encourage you to research the country that you are visiting so that you are aware of taboos and unacceptable behaviour that you should avoid. This will also make for a better trip for you, as the local people will respect you and welcome you more if you are seen to be making an effort to keep with their beliefs.
Please be aware that some projects do not allow alcohol on the project premises - you will be made aware of this in your pre-departure information. Drugs are forbidden on all projects, if you are found to contravene this, you will be asked to leave the project.
You must also abide by the guidelines and rules of the project.
Medical
It is up to you to make sure that you have had all the appropriate vaccinations and made all the necessary medical preparations for your trip before you leave the UK. We are unable to advise you as to what vaccinations you will need, but we do recommend that you visit your GP at least 6 weeks before you are due to travel. A number of our projects are in malarial areas, it is again up to you to sort out prophylactics/ mosquito net etc before you leave.
Yellow Fever - Yellow Fever, carried by mosquitoes, is endemic to Equatorial Africa and the central South America. Some countries require you to have a certificate as proof that you have had the Yellow Fever vaccination to enter when you are arriving from any country, whereas other countries will need you to show a Yellow Fever certificate only if you are entering it from a country where Yellow Fever is endemic. Ask your doctor about this and check/get in touch with the embassy of the country you are visiting.
Passport
Firstly, don't forget it and don't forget to check about necessary visas! Secondly, if you need to send off for any visas for your trip, make sure that you leave plenty of time to get it sorted out. Some countries require you to have at least 6 months left on your passport from the date you return from your trip. So if you are going away on the 7th Jan and returning on the 7th Feb, your passport will need to be valid for at least 6 months from the 7th Feb. This also applies for when you are applying for visas.
Insurance
Before you depart, you must give us insurance details for you trip. We cannot send you on any of our projects without appropriate insurance. You must be insured with repatriation and emergency air evacuation. We have a number of insurance options for gap year trips that we would be happy to give you information about.
 Gap Year Advice
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