Five of the best gap years closer to home

The recent pandemic forced many gap years to be put on hold as the UK’s young people grappled with lockdowns, travel bans, and an exam result meltdown.

But now exam results are largely sorted and lockdowns have eased within the UK, many are now looking at what the future of the gap year is. The majority of the world’s popular gap year destinations, like Thailand, Australia and Peru, are still entirely closed to foreign visitors and that may not change well into 2021.

So what are the options for a 2020 or even 2021 gap year? For now, Europe and even more so the UK are the safest bets, which may not match up to the traditional image of the big, post-school or university trip. “In their [gappers] mentality, a gap year is dramatic. Interrailing in Portugal doesn’t really cut the mustard,” said Milly Whitehead, a spokesperson for The Leap.

Contrary to popular belief, however, there’s plenty of dramatic vistas and unique cultural experiences to be had closer to home. From caring for animals in Greece to fruit picking in the UK countryside, here are some ideas for gap year trips later this year or in 2021, that could be just as rewarding as a trek through Asia or the Americas.

1. Friends of Animals, Greece

Gap years are frequently focused around the idea of helping communities or others while travelling, whether that be building homes or volunteering with charities. Over the years, some backlash has rightly arisen against gap years that seem to “do good”, but aren’t as ethical as they first appear. Shoddy building work, or the taking of jobs away from local communities have been criticisms leveled against many volunteering gap years.

Despite this, is it still possible to make a difference on a gap year and use your time abroad wisely. One such opportunity is volunteering with Friends of Animals, an Athens-based charity created to help animals within the Greek capital. Located in the small northern Athens community of Neas Filadelfeias, the shelter looks after over 50 dogs within the shelter, and dozens more throughout the neighbourhood. Volunteers are vital to the charity, which is run almost entirely by them.

“Even though this program is very barebones, it is a grassroots movement to help the strays in Greece that is gaining momentum,” said a former participant in the volunteering program. “It is run by 100 per cent devoted founders who save the strays often to the detriment of their own health and financial wellbeing.”

For more information see friendsofanimals-nf.com

2. Fruit picking, UK

Another way to put your gap year time to good use is available here in the UK. The Covid-19 pandemic has left UK farms in the lurch, as the international workers they usually rely on to help pick their fruit and vegetables have been in short supply this year. An urgent call has been made by the UK’s Alliance of Ethical Labour Providers for people to fill these positions in farms across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Fruit picking is a common enough gap year activity, though usually based in far-flung Australia or New Zealand, where harvest work is traditionally a required rite of passage for backpackers within the countries. While both are still off-limits to international visitors, there’s plenty to recommend fruit picking in the UK: it’s paid, free accommodation is provided, and so is training.

It’s also an excellent way to see a bit more of the UK’s own charms. Explore Northern Ireland’s ecclesiastical capital alongside picking apples for the county’s cider breweries, or harvest ripe berries in the heart of the British countryside.

Made up of the companies Concordia, HOPS and Fruitful, The Alliance is committed to ethical practices and any successful applicants for their fruit picking schemes will be paid at least minimum wage - though many farms pay National Living Wage or more. Training is paid, and every job comes with free insurance. Placements last from six weeks to six months, all over the UK.

For more information see hopslaboursolutions.com

3. World Packing, France

While I was never able to take a gap year myself, I did spend my summers at university working in France, an experience I’ll always be grateful for. In particular, a stint working at a rural youth hostel in Brittany in exchange for bed and board was a formative summer and sparked a lifelong love of France’s verdant north.

Today’s gappers are able to do the same, with far greater options as skill exchange programs become more widespread and accessible. On World Packers, a website that links up young people looking to travel cheaply with locations looking for volunteers, France options are manifold. Travel to Corrèze to help with wedding receptions at a rural guesthouse. “Are you lovely with animals?” reads another listing, accompanied by a picture of three women each holding a cat aloft. Volunteers here spend two days a week looking after animals on a Molandier farm, in exchange for a private room, breakfast, free laundry and use of the farm’s bikes – an undeniably great deal.

For more information see worldpackers.com

4. Marine conservation, Spain

Spain’s costas aren’t all about jugfuls of sangria and baking yourself beneath the sun: outside the thrumming resort towns they’re also rife with magnificent nature. Global Work and Travel helps educate visitors about the beauty of Spain’s marine ecosystem, on its two to eight week volunteering program that takes young people along the country's coast.

Along with helping to protect coastal flora and fauna, volunteers are given the opportunity to become a certified scuba diver with international accreditation during their two to eight week trip, to help them keep track of whales, dolphins and turtles in the Mediterranean Sea. Volunteers fly into the city of Valencia and based in the historic coastal city of Denia, which sits on Spain’s eastern coast.

The company works with local project partners and all work is part of a real-world research and conservation project, so participants can be secure in the knowledge that their work is actually “doing good”. Visa assistance, airport pickups, volunteer accommodation and onsite training is all provided.

For more information see globalworkandtravel.com

5. Art and culture, Ireland

Ireland, one of Britain’s closest neighbours, can sometimes be overlooked for gap years here, with young people choosing to go to further flung destinations. But those outside Britain’s shores – particularly in the US – have long known the allure of an Irish gap year.

Get to know the creativity and heritage of Ireland on the Irish Arts & Culture Program, a community-based introduction to the country hosted by Irish Gap Year. Its next two-and-a-half month programme starts in September 2020. Participants spend their time working with local artists, photographers, writers, performers and musicians in small-group workshops, while taking in some of Ireland’s most beautiful locations.

The programme is based in Bundoran, a coastal town in Donegal, and local weeks and expeditions are held in places like Dublin, Belfast, Dingle and Kerry, as well as a number of Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) areas. One trip to Dublin takes place over Samhain, the ancient Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season. Another travels to Boyne Valley, to see 6,500-year-old tombs, ancient Celtic sites and the Hill of Tara.

For more information see irishgapyear.com