With interim payments approaching we thought we’d give you yet another incentive to help you stay focused, save hard, reach your fundraising goal and ultimately get to go on your trip of a lifetime!

We really want you to make it and get to experience everything Kenya, Tanzania and Borneo have to offer.

To prove how much we want you to make it, everyone who gets their payment to us on time will be entered in to our prize draw with the chance to win the following:

3 x 1st Prize – ipod shuffle

5 x 2nd Prizes – Mountain Kit bag

5 x 3rd Prizes – Adventure First Aid Kit

30 x Runner Up Prizes – A head torch

If you are lucky enough to be a winner, we will contact you after the draw has taken place in October.

Thank you to everyone who has already made their interim payment and well done for getting this far!

Best of luck with your fundraising efforts this summer, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

If you have any problems or questions at all please remember you can contact us on 0844 8001127 or give us a shout on fundraising@campsinternational.com, we’re here to help!

Whilst out in Borneo we had an idea to give out some disposable cameras to a group of local children in Bongkud.

The idea was for them to give us an insight into their daily lives by taking pictures of their friends, family, pets, school and their village. Hopefully giving us a chance to see a true side of what life is like as a young child of Bongkud. A side that we would otherwise rarely get to see.

Eight children from the local school were given the cameras and all but one camera was returned, once developed the plan had worked and we were presented with a great selection of fun photos.
Have a look at some of the best photos put together in this slideshow.

For more information on how to get involved in our volunteer gap programmes in Borneo, Malaysia click here.

To request a free brochure & DVD click over….here.

With A-level results day looming large, a quick Google search is enough to scare any student witless.

‘Record numbers of University applicants’, ‘200,000 students set to miss out’, ‘University Clearing places slashed in half’,  ‘The worlds about to end’.  OK we made the last one up but you get the picture.

We’ve dug deep and found two positive reports today:

The BBC today reported; ‘Improved A-Level Results Expected’ – You guys are the brightest students ever so that’s something to be proud of and settle those pre-result nerves a little.  Fair enough, it’s maybe not such great news if you aren’t expecting the best results.

However Dr Wendy Piatt, Director General of the Russell Group of leading universities told the BBC that universities strived to look at the whole candidate, not just their grades.

If you do just miss out on your university of choice don’t panic, you have loads of alternative options, it’s definitely not the end of the world.

The London Metro have today reported graduates are happier and £1,000 a year richer if they take a gap year before university.

So missing out on your preferred grades could be a blessing in disguise. It could be the perfect excuse for you to take a gap year, do some travelling, volunteer abroad, have a great time, enhance your CV and ultimately end up happier and £1,000 per year better off.

If that’s not enough good news for today then we’ve got even more…

If you volunteer on one of our 1-3 month gap programmes in Africa or Asia then you can now earn 70 UCAS points!  Yep 70 UCAS points, the equivalent of an A grade at AS Level. They said you lot were bright.

Meaning you could enjoy a great gap year then re-apply to university next year with 70 extra UCAS points a wealth of unique life skills (remember universities look at the whole candidate) and a whole bunch of great memories.

So if you don’t quite get the A-Level results you want tomorrow then don’t worry, give us a shout and we’ll spread the happiness!

P.S. Even if you do, you could always defer.

To request a free brochure and DVD on our award-winning volunteer gap year projects click here.

So the big day is approaching, the day you’ve either been looking forward too or more likely trying to forget about.  Yep I’m talking about A-Level result’s day, Thursday August 19^th as if you needed reminding.

Hopefully once you get you’re A-level result’s you’ll be celebrating but with University applications at an all time high some students will unfortunately just miss out on their University of choice.

For those who do miss out, it might seem like the end of the world at the time but it really isn’t.  You have loads of options.

You can go through clearing and take a different course or choose to study at a different University.  However with reports suggesting that many Universities are already full and clearing places are set to be cut by a third on last year you may decide against the clearing route.

If you do you could go straight into employment or you could take a gap year and defer University entry until the following year? Decisions, decisions…

Many education experts including, Teacher groups, Student groups and Parents groups have voiced their opinions that now is a great time to take a gap year, “do something positive like volunteering” and re-apply with a stronger more outstanding CV the following year.

If you do decide taking a gap year and deferring entry until the following year is the route for you, then we could help, in fact we could have the perfect solution for you!

By taking part in one of our 1-3 month gap year volunteer expeditions to Africa or Asia you can now undertake the CoPE Level 3 certificate, worth a whopping 70 UCAS points, the equivalent of an A grade at AS Level.

With such huge competition to get into University this could be the perfect way to:

• Avoid the mayhem of clearing.
• Gain some unique volunteer experience to put on your CV and make your university application stand out from the crowd!
• Gain loads of transferable life skills that Higher education providers value.
• Have a once in a life time experience!
• Make a real difference to much less privileged communities.
• Earn yourself 70 extra UCAS points to strengthen your University application!
• ULTIMATELY help you to get into your University of choice!

If you decide to take a gap year and travel there certainly can’t be too many more productive ways to do it!

If you’re interested in finding out more about our Africa and Asia volunteer gap programmes please click here to get your free brochure and DVD.

If you’d like to know more about the CoPE Level 3 certificate and what is involved, please click here.

Good luck with your results!

Having just returned from Cambodia I just wanted to write a quick blog to let you all know what I got up too. I will be doing a blog of my time here in Borneo but since I was in Cambodia for considerably less time I thought I would start small…

I had a good idea of what to expect when I reached Cambodia but I did not expect it to be quite as awesome as it was, I had such a great trip in a very small space of time. I will give you all a quick brief now of the itinerary I took and will enthusiastically extend on my experience with all who are interested on my return!

I flew into Siem Reap and before meeting Bunlay, I got my passport checked, stamped and approved by the line of approx. 11 officials who greet everyone at immigration! I found it quite amusing having to stand facing them all to get my mug recognised for my visa into Cambodia before the final guy stamped my passport and yelled my name to collect it right at the end of the line!

Bunlay took me to get some coffee and then we headed straight for the temples of Angkor, Prah Khan, Angkor Thom and finally Angkor Wat. I have seen photos of all of these temples but can honestly say that photos don’t do them justice…that said see photos below!

After wandering round the temples I went back to Siem Reap and wandered around the city absolutely loving all of the little stalls and the general buzz of the place. I might add here that I also managed to resist temptation (a lot better than Bea!) and walked away only having bought a bed throw and painting!

The next day Bunlay and I drove to the airport to meet Rory and then headed to Beng Mealea to get the rental agreement signed by the leader of the Commune to officially get Camp Cambodia up and running!

We visited the current orphanage where I was given a tour whilst Rory sat in a sweaty hot room signing various agreements and then headed to meet with the leader of the commune who was very happy to receive some Camp Cambodia t-shirts before getting down to business. Not really having any great use during the contract signing I just sat observing while Bunlay translated information back and forth between the commune clark, the commune leader, and Rory. It was interesting trying to guess what was being said as they spoke Khmer and laughed with each other whilst Rory and I looked on in confusion as to what they were laughing at! Eventually they all seemed happy with the agreement and it was all sealed with a good old fashioned hand shake!

Once the agreement was signed we went to visit the site where the new orphanage was being built and more excitingly the location for Camp Cambodia! A stunning peaceful location that will be just a stones throw away from the new orphanage and a great spot for our first camp.

From here we raced back to Siem Reap in order for Rory and I to jump onto a bus to make the 5 hour journey to Phnom Penh. Im not sure Rory would agree with me on this but the journey went extremely quickly and between watching as all the little communities passed by the window and staring at the woman in front of us as she shoveled more crickets into her mouth I would go so far as to say I actually enjoyed it!

In Phnom Penh it was more paper work for Rory so he introduced me to Tamap his local tuk tuk driver and sent me on my way to learn more about the history of Cambodia. I spent the day learning more about the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime and after visiting the killing fields and S21 I felt compelled to learn more so bought ‘At first they killed my father’ which is a biography of a girl who was just 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge first took power in Cambodia – a recommended read although be warned, it even broke through my heart of stone and for those of you who know me well – yes, even I shed a tear!

So rounding off my trip (reading my book as I went) I went on to visit the Russian markets (again suppressing my urge to shop (watch and learn Bea watch and learn)) where I meandered round the maze of stalls all calling “you want to look in my shop lady” as they competed for my custom. From here I went to the Palace and finally back to the hotel ready for my flight the next day back to KK.

So yeah in a nutshell that was my trip but just in case you are unable to tell from the tone of my email I LOVED every second and in a word would describe Cambodia as AMAZING!

So one day to go on the cinema tickets competition.  I don’t know about you but I’m nervous.  Micronesia is still out in front with 31 ‘likes’ but literally anything could happen.  I still fancy the Moon for a late comeback.  I’ve read the tortoise and the hare.

As we approach the last 36 hours, it’s now or never.  If you want to win the tickets and have a free night at the cinema on us this weekend, it’s time to step out of the shadows and act.

If you’ve got an idea, now’s you’re moment!  Post it on our wall and tell everyone why you’re destination is the greatest! Sell it, with everything you’ve got and then sit back and watch the ‘likes’ roll in.

I believe in you, now you must believe to.

It’s time to push it people…

Good Luck!

See below for the latest standings and what you have to beat:

1. Micronesia – 31
2. Guyana – 14
3. Madagascar – 9
4. Galapagos Islands – 9
5. India – 6
6. Australia – 6
7. Costa Rica – 4
8. Japan – 3
9. The Moon – 3
10. Brazil – 2
11. Peru – 2
12. Uruguay, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lank, China, Phillipines, Nepal, South Pole & North Pole – 1

Another day and another news story, more doom and gloom is being reported in the press regarding shortages of university places.  The latest reports are suggesting that university applications have risen this year by 11.6%.

540,000 applications have been filed to English universities, all hoping to begin this September 2010.  With only 370,000 places awarded last year, it doesn’t take a graduate to work out that not everyone can get one of the highly sought after places. A quick calculation shows that 170,000 talented hopefuls could miss out.  With this discrepancy expected to continue to rise year on year, competition is tough!

However don’t fear. We at Camps International don’t do doom and gloom.  In fact, we don’t see problems, we only see solutions (write that down) so we’ve put our heads together and come up with a way to help you get into your university of choice!

It’s well known that volunteering looks excellent on a CV and already sets you apart from the crowd but now when you volunteer on one of our 1-3 month programmes you can undertake the ASDAN Universities Award or the CoPE Level 3 certificate.

What’s the CoPE Level 3 certificate?
A qualification to go with your stories!
A formal qualification recognised by Universities, worth a whopping 70 UCAS points; it’s the equivalent of an A grade at AS level and all without a single exam!
Dreams do come true!

What’s the ASDAN Universities Award?
A university recognised and UCAS recommended award!
It proves and highlights the volunteer activities you have undertaken making you stand out from the crowd!
UCAS recommend including it in your CV and Personal Statement!
This award doesn’t carry any UCAS points.

With more and more people undertaking gap years and travelling abroad, this is the perfect way to really jump off the page!

If this sounds good to you then click here to check out our diverse range of volunteer programs in Africa and Asia.

Here at Camps we’re always thinking about where we can build our next camp.

Stu (the CEO) did a quick straw poll in the office last week on where we’d all like to see the next Camp if we could choose anywhere in the world.  As he was wearing a Mexican wrestlers mask at the time, no-one took him seriously so we thought we’d ask YOU!!!

Where would be your ideal Camps location if you could choose anywhere in the world?

Post a message on our wall telling us your destination of choice and why you think it would be a good Camps destination?  Keep it brief because I have to read them all.  If you can’t be bothered just put the country name but you might not win.

The post with the most likes will win 2 cinema tickets to your local cinema to see the film of your choice.  We would give you a free trip to that Camp but it’s not built yet so we thought cinema tickets would be the next best thing.

Get posting, get ‘liking’ and good luck!

In our ongoing series of notes from the field in Camp Kenya, I asked Chris and Sarah (our Marine Conservation Program Coordinators) to put together a little rant about their first week at our Ocean Camp. From the sounds of it, these two seem to have a stress free season… Karibu sana kampi ya baharini!!!!!! [...]

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So it’s all over.  We’ve waited four years and just like that it’s over.  No more ‘working lunches’ at the Dog & Duck because you couldn’t possibly miss New Zealand v Greece.  You met a Greek on holiday once and you love moussaka so sorry boss, it’s a must-see.  No more half days because England are playing, no more listening to John Barnes express himself and Baddiel and Skinner lie to us all in the name of music, no more coming home to watch the 7.30 match, followed by James Cordons World Cup live, followed by highlights of the 7.30 match you’ve already seen.  No my friends it’s all over.

And the worse bit is it’s four years until we can say to anyone who doesn’t like it, that it’s only every four years, which was the best excuse since the last one.   We were rubbish, the Germans were good, Alan Hansen said the defense was a shambles and every bloke in the pub said he could do better.  Nothing changes.

Except it does! This World Cup, more so than any other before it has inspired and re-energised a whole continent. The youth have been able to see first hand the power of sport, the joy it brings and what can be achieved as a result of it.  It must now be used to unify and educate.  It’s vital that the impact this tournament has started is built upon and not just left to fade away.

If you love football, in fact if you just love sport (the Cricket seasons in full flow, book the Dog & Duck), and you’ve been inspired by the African people then act now!  Get involved and help build a lasting legacy.

Make us proud! (Sorry, I love that song!)

For information on how to get involved click here to check out our Africa and Asia sports volunteer projects.

Please give us a shout with any comments below.