Has anyone's teenager done World Challenge?

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And if so, how did you feel about it? DD has the chance to go to South India on one of these trips (she will turn 16 while she's out there). And while I'm keen for her to have what seems to be a fabulous experience, I'm a bit concerned about it. Any comments most appreciated!

Some of DD's friends have signed up for this. They have been fundraising for a couple of years. There is no way they can fund these trips themselves and in the end parents have to dig deep.

I wouldn't let DD do it, it seem incredibly expensive. I'm sure it's worthwhile if you can afford it. There was lots of talk about it looking good for UCAS etc but from what I've heard it doesn't carry much weight as uni's will see it as divisive.

I wouldn't have been worried about safety etc. There are risks with everything they do.

One of my boys did a World Challenge trip to Borneo a few years ago. He had a fabulous time. Very expensive but I didn't have any concerns about the safety aspects, it all seemed to be supervised well with experienced trip leaders and emergency links back to uk if anything had gone wrong.

thanks for all your comments. It is expensive, but the group are encouraged to do large fund-raising events all together, and the team that went last year actually managed to raise the whole amount through hard work so I'm hoping that we won't have to contribute too much. Obviously we will pay a bit towards it, but I think part of the ethic is that it's not paid for by the parents but that the children take responsibility. We have to make a decision this week and at the moment I'm thinking "yes" (mainly because I'd love to go myself!) but still not 100%. Thanks again for your thoughts.

My DS1 went to the Ukraine two years ago. I agree that the group fundraising is good and DS also worked hard to help fund it but we ended up paying quite a bit. One thing that we hadn't prepared ourselves for was the cost of the vacinations that were necessary. Obviously this differs from place to place and some doctors surgery offer them free but ours didn't and the cost was about £300. Also the kit cost a fortune as he needed proper walking gear; shoes, sleeping bag etc.
Their voluntary work consisted of painting a children's home. DS didn't think that it was a particularly worthwhile cause.
He enjoyed the experience but persuaded DS2 not to do it.

my daughter went to malawi at 16 with world challenge and she loved it!
I was mega anxious but it was the best experience and fabulous CV fodder for uni!

My DD decided not to go - and to use her money to help at Uni. (it didn't disadvantage any of her UCAS applications)

We went to the Info evenings. The main fundraising help was "get a job at £5ph, for X hours to raise the money"! Parents had to sign a form guaranteeing the payments, so be prepared to pay.

A friends child recently did Malawi. She had an amazing time, recommended it to everyone, BUT her Mum told me the the jabs & Malaria tablets added over £600 to her bill! (She even had to pay for the TB jab that is no longer routinely given).

DS is considering his schools offer (Tanzania) and we will offer him the same as his sister, we will match £1 for £1 what he raises. It will be his choice, but as an August birthday he can't get a job until next September whereas his friends already have jobs.

My DD isn't doing World Challenge, but she is going to World Scout Jamboree next year, which has involved a hell of a lot of fund raising.

Think very carefully about whether you have enough time to get raising. It's really hard work. There comes a point, when you've asked your friends and family enough times, to put their hands in their pockets, essentially for DD to go away for a few weeks.

And it's all very well saying that it's DD that has to raise the money, not you, but school and social life, will, inevitably get in the way! You will be the one worrying about making the next payment.

However, if you decide to go with it, I have some great fund raising ideas!

My DD went on a World Challenge last year aged 13, not long haul (Europe) just for 10 days. It was hard work but she loved every minute and would recommend it to anyone.

The hardest bit is the fundraising as it is in mu opinion hard to ask for money from others for what is basically your own adventure. At 13 she was too young to get a job to pay her way so we eneded up footing most of the cost.

Thank you everyone for your input. We have signed up and are already doing some minor fund-raising eg collecting 5p coins in a jar, and asking any visitors to the house to do the same, selling some junk on ebay etc. But I know we need to do some big stuff as well as these little bits.

Out of interest, do you think anyone would be interested in buying children's mp3 downloads/CDs of classic children's stories such as Beatrix Potter, Treasure Island etc? I thought DD, DS and I could record some and sell them very cheaply (£1 perhaps?) on ebay. Obviously we could only do stories that are out of copyright, but I thought there would be very little outlay/work involved after the initial recordings, so that could be another way of on-going income. Maybe people wouldn't want stories read by (well-meaning) amateurs though.

Maureen getting a bit busy down here m'luv! Such a great name . Would love to hear your fund-raising ideas, or anyone else's for that matter. Thanks again.

My DD went to India last summer and my DS1 is going to Venezula summer 2012. They have almost two years to do the fundraising. DD had £300 still to raise when she went but paid us back now. Our condition on them going is that they have to raise the funds themselves. DH keeps a spreadsheet showing how much raised and how much to go. DD had a terrific time - they have to organise their own trip, and food etc when they are there. I think its a great way for them to travel at 16, to an exiting destination and really builds their confidence and independence. I would recommend.

my DH runs the world challenge expeditions at his school - they are expensive but that's mainly due to all the safety things in place - me and DH go travelling and don't even consider (other than insurance) where we're going to stay let alone what if we get ill. If you're taking other people's children you want to be absoloutly sure you can be airlifted out of anywhere in an emergency and it's this backup you're paying for.

Any good WC group will make them raise their own money - it's about the teamwork and how they rise to the challenge as much as anything else.

From the people I've seen DH (teach at the same school so have the before and after if that makes sense!)I would say the change in them is always excellent, always for the better.

Not saying you can't get the same value experience in a different way but, for me, World Challenge is great!

My neice went to Ecuador on WOrld Chllenge. She's very shy and it was the making of her. Fund raising ideas....the fire brigade are very helpful.....I organised a joint car washing morning at the fire station. The kids helped the firemen ( I went along just to supervise you understand . They split the proceeds between them.