World Challenge - younger kids - worth it??

[GroveMum]

My daughter's school are currently offering a World Challenge trip to Croatia for year 7-9 - cost £1200 for a week. They are also offering a trip for the older girls to the Himalayas. I can see the attraction of the latter, visiting an undeveloped country, helping out locals on a project etc.
The one to Croatia just seems like an expensive PGL trip. They do trekking, kayaking etc but there doesn't seem to be much of the "challenging" activities the older groups take part in.
We got the hard sell from World Challenge saying it looks good on UCAS forms and c.v.s and so on, which has attracted a lot of parents to sign their girls up.
I also can't see how my daughter can raise 80% of the cost herself as she is too young to work - we don't live in the sort of neighbourhood where you can wash cars etc and I don't feel able to ask friends or work colleagues to sponsor her as it is not a charity or anything. The school will not let them fund raise there. I can pay for it(as due in instalments over a year), but wonder if I am wasting my money. My daughter herself would like to go but is aware it is very expensive. I would be glad to hear if anyone has had experience of younger kids going on World Challenge and whether it was worth it.

[webwiz]

I haven't heard of the World Challenge for younger kids but I did think that a large part of the challenge was raising the money yourself. If you take that element out it just becomes a very nice but expensive experience. I must admit I've become a bit cynical about the whole thing because I think it is very expensive for what you actually get and we have decided that for DD2(16) if she is offered the opportunity we won't take it. She has agreed with us on this and I'm sure her application to university/CV won't suffer.

[pippop1]

I have to say I find it difficult to support raising money for other people's kids to, for example, have a gap year or to go on expensive trips. With my kids if we couldn't afford it, they didn't go.

I have a sneaking feeling that the amount of helping that they do on these trips is minimal and the money would be better off just being given to the charity.

[Lilymaid]

DS went on a World Challenge expedition at the end of Y12 - the usual age, having raised some of the money during Y11 and Y12. He relied on earning money from a paper round and later from a Saturday job. I can't imagine how most younger children would be able to raise the money. There is a limit to most people's generosity on sponsored challenges etc and the trips are expensive. I can't remember anyone checking up on DS as to how he had raised the money and in many cases, the Bank of Mum and Dad will have been the main donors.

[GroveMum]

Thanks! Your views seem to confirm my own thoughts about it and I really think the whole thing at least as far as the younger age group is concerned is a big rip off. I will reserve judgement on the trips for older kids but the promotional video did provoke thoughts of poverty tourism.
Croatia is a beautiful country, but whether I want to pay £1200 for the privilege of my daughter sleeping in a tent and cooking her own food is another matter.

[GroveMum]

Thanks! Your views seem to confirm my own thoughts about it and I really think the whole thing at least as far as the younger age group is concerned is a big rip off. I will reserve judgement on the trips for older kids but the promotional video did provoke thoughts of poverty tourism.
Croatia is a beautiful country, but whether I want to pay £1200 for the privilege of my daughter sleeping in a tent and cooking her own food is another matter.

[NextDirectory]

We were given 2 years (actually 22 months) to raise the money for world challenge in Malawi. Cost £3,200

There are only so many cake sales and fund raisers you can do, so for us it was a non starter. I know they say the children will raise the money themselves, but you also have to give your direct debit details for them to take a monthly payment, so if they haven't raised it, you are the guarantor.

At 14, 15 years old, how is a child going to earn much money.

If it was 2 grand we would have done it, but 3,200 was just too much.

[BecauseImWoeufIt]

The whole point of WC is that they're supposed to raise the money themselves, and the school is supposed to work with them to create ways in which they can fundraise - so it's more of a team effort to raise the money rather than an individual thing.

DS2 is older, and will be going to Iceland next year - so we've been given 18 months to fund raise as well.

And it does, apparently, (certainly at this age) count for up to 70 points on your UCAS application, which can only be a good thing. (Trust me on this one - having an older son going through the whole university application process at the moment - we would fall on 70 points!!!)

And without knowing the details of the challenge, I would say that there are lots of things that make it a challenge - they will probably be wild camping, not pitching the tent in a nice, facilities-loaded campsite, and will have to shop and cook for themselves using basic equipment - I think that's a fantastic experience.

They also work on building team-working skills as well as leadership skills.

And - heaven forfend - it might actually be fun.

If they can raise the money themselves (and I appreciate that's a big 'if', especially if the school isn't helping as much as they can) then I think it's a fabulous thing for them to do.

[Lilymaid]

I'd like to hear of children from ordinary schools who have managed to raise all the money by fund raising rather than by Saturday jobs and donations by parents/grandparents etc. Certainly for DS' trip no one was remotely interested where the money came from as long as it was banked on time.We got instant reminders if money wasn't paid on the right day. The rest of the admin wasn't up to much - we were sent the booking details for another child at a school at the other end of the country.
As far as UCAS is concerned DS is in the UCAS system this year and
his offers, for midle ranking universities have all been based round academic qualifications (such as A Levels, Highers and BTec). The UCAS website says in FAQs:

"I've heard that you can get Tariff points for doing work experience or travelling. Is that correct?

No. UCAS Tariff points are allocated following successful completion of a level 3 qualification which has been allocated points. It is, however, possible to use activities gained from a wide variety of experiences to inform a course of study that does attract Tariff points."

[scaryteacher]

I had heard that if insufficient money is raised for the group to go so the trip doesn't happen, World Challenge keeps your money, and you don't get it back.

I offered the World Challenge kids at ds's school a slot to fundraise at a school event I was organising, from which previous kids had raised money.

I had no response from them; I contacted the lead teacher and asked if they were going to run the cake stall, and was told, they might, but do they have to bake the cakes to sell as well, or do you do it? I offered in response to wipe their arses for them at the same time and chew their food, and passed the stall to the Scouts, who put it to good use and raised a lot of money.

It seems easier for some to let their parents pay than for them to actually do anything about it. Iceland is cheap for tourists at the moment - 250 euros return flight, and obviously given the credit crunch prices there have dropped. Why go with World Challenge?

[webwiz]

I agree with Scaryteacher that some of the kids involved have not taken on the responsibility of the fund raising. I was invited to a "charity" lunch a while ago and yes I should have inquired a bit closer about what charity it was but I certainly didn't expect to be funding a load of teenagers World Challenge trip.

[BecauseImWoeufIt]

Agree ST - the only condition we have laid down for DS2 about this is that he raises the money on his own (i.e. as part of the fundraising effort by the school). Bank of mum and dad is not paying for this one!

[pippop1]

Why should people put themselves out for other people's children to go on a trip? For example attend a different school's "talent show" that your own child isn't in.

Other charities closer to home are just as important. The children just don't get a trip out of it.

Sorry if I seem angry. I currently have a good friend who keeps asking me to attend various boring events organised by her son (really herself) who is going to Uganda on their gap year. I've been to one and that's plenty.

I chose to send my child to a fee paying school but I don't ask her to contribute to his school fees do I? Before I get leapt upon, she is mega rich but chose to send her son to the local grammar which is fine.

[BecauseImWoeufIt]

Well just don't contribute pippop1 - no-one is forcing you!

[NextDirectory]

it is true what scaryteacher says about the funds. If you cannot raise enough, you lose the lot. In order to sign up, we had to do the direct debit thingy. So even if my daughter raised enough the dd would be paid, if it wasn't we paid it. If you as the parent bounce the direct debits, the trip is over and everything paid into it is gone.

The idea was fantastic, my daughter really wanted to go and we were keen to her to experience it too, but the risk of not finding enough money and losing the lot was too great.

[happystarr]

That is shocking that they expect parents to pay £1200 for trip for 7 year olds! what if like me, you have several children but not a high income?! you cant treat one child and not the reast! I'd save your money unitl your children are much older and it goes towards something that will benefit them more that an activity holiday (i.e. university?... driving lessons?... foriegn language or music lessons? etc etc

[happystarr]

ps, apologies for terrible spelling and grammer. I was typing fast due to my fury at these money grabbing organisations that try to take advantage of hard working parents!

[Hulababy]

Happystarr - It is y7-9 so 11-14yos, not 7yos/

[Lilymaid]

Op was referring to Y7 - Y9 pupils i.e. 11-14 year olds. But it is still expensive!

[BecauseImWoeufIt]

FGS - it's entirely optional. No need to get your knickers in a twist. If you don't think you can raise the money, then don't put your child forward.

[JemmaHab]

I don't think that anyone here actually understands the point of a World Challenge trip. World Challenge trips are to help raise money for things like schools in third world countries, so fundraising is done before the trip to help the students purchase things like water tanks for the underprivileged schools.

World challenge also helps students to bond and learn leadership skills, and things like sleeping in a tent and preparing your own food is part of the amazing experience.

Also, you shouldn't be paying for the trip. Students have fundraisers to raise their own money to go, and only a small amount should be payed for by parents.

World challenge trips are very educational and amazing experiences in life, but should be left until year 10-12 until they are old enough to fully understand what they are doing, who they are helping and what all this actually means.

[titchy]

This is a five year old thread Jemma.....

The point of world challenge is an expensive jolly for kids whose eyes will probably be opened a little, but not that much.

The point is not to help the communities they purport to help. If people want to support those communities spend the £2000 fundraised and give it to Oxfam not world challenge.