Catholic Gap Year

If you are planning to take a year out before work or further study, you don't always need to travel thousands of miles to find a worthwhile project where you can use your talents and serve in a Church-based environment.

These placements are more than just a job. They are a valuable life experience as well as playing an important part in your faith journey. Grow as a person, in lots of areas of your life, make a real difference to the lives of others and make new friends. As well as developing your gifts and gaining valuable work experience that will look great on your CV, a gap year will be an unforgettable experience and a lot of fun!

Universities and employers are increasingly recognizing the benefits that a constructively spent gap-year can provide. Many of these will be inclined to look favourably on applicants who can demonstrate that they successfully completed a well thought-out placement that involved teamwork, commitment and achieved something for the wider community.

There are many choices to make if you decide to take a Gap year ? this might even include the decision as to whether or not you move away from home. Taking a gap year can give you work experience, develop your skills and equip you with new ones. Many gap-year placements that you see advertised round about do enable you to work on some real worthwhile causes - a Church-based gap year gives you all of this and also places a real emphasis on your own faith and spiritual development.

The spiritual dimension of the work means that your growth as a unique human being takes at different levels. If you undertook a Catholic gap year experience, you would have the opportunity to:

* Explore and deepen your faith
* Serve God and your neighbour
* Discover what God is doing in the world
* Listen to God's call and discern your future vocation
* Experience community living with like-minded Christians
* Receive great support and Christian fellowship
* Spread the Gospel and share your faith with others.
* Enter into a fuller participation in life and mission of the Church
* Make a real difference to people's lives and the world.