Three intrepid Sixth Form students from Oasis Academy Coulsdon are about to embark on a three week volunteering adventure when they fly off to Bangalore on 19th July.

The students have spent the past 18 months raising money to pay for their flights, accommodation and living expenses in Bangalore. With only five weeks remaining until their trip, fundraising is still going on but so far the three students have raised a staggering £3,100 between them! When they arrive in Bangalore, they will link up with employees from the international Oasis community based there and follow a two week programme of volunteering in local schools.

The three 18 year olds, Daniel Borer, Jessica Little and Mairi Hibberd-McWhirr, all from Coulsdon, are eagerly looking forward to their trip of a lifetime.

Jessica said: "We have spent so long planning and fundraising, it doesn't seem possible that we are now only a few weeks away from actually stepping on the plane".

Daniel added: "The idea for our trip was inspired by a visitor from the global Oasis group who came to talk to us about the work Oasis do with young people throughout the world. We came up with the idea of a voluntary 'gap year' type of experience as a way of helping young people in an international community as well as broadening our own life experiences. Originally we planned to travel to Zimbabwe, but political unrest meant that we switched our destination to Bangalore. We are so lucky that with Oasis' international links, we were able to set this whole thing up".

The students have initiated a wide range of fundraising events at different events organised by Friends of Oasis Academy, such as raffles, car boot sales, sweet and cake sales. They have washed cars, sold 'glow sticks' at firework events, packed bags at supermarkets and run stalls at school community events.

In the last six months the students received a real boost to their funds: Starbucks plc heard about their venture and gave them a donation of £500 towards the cost of purchasing educational equipment and stationery to take out to the schools, and, the Rotary Club of Coulsdon Manor have also given them £500 sponsorship towards their fares and accommodation.

Jessica said: "We are just so grateful for these two donations, it's made all the difference. We were lucky enough to meet Kris Engskoff, CEO of Starbucks when we helped out with the Starbucks Community Day of Action at Oasis Academy Byron. He was really interested to hear about our plans and we couldn't believe it when he emailed us with a £500 donation."

The Rotary Club of Coulsdon Manor are great supporters of students at the Academy and when the Sixth Formers approached them about sponsorship, they were invited to make a presentation to the Rotarians telling them about their plans and what they hoped to achieve. The Club agreed to help them with the provisio that the students come back and make another presentation after their trip.

David Millar, Lead Principal of Oasis Academy Coulsdon said: "Daniel, Jessica and Mairi have already learned valuable life-skills through their fundraising efforts and I am sure that they will learn even more valuable skills on their trip. As our first cohort of Sixth Form students, they are true pioneers in 'gap' experiences at Oasis Academy Coulsdon. I hope many other sixth formers take advantage of the opportunities offered through the global Oasis community and that there will be many such adventures in the years to come."