1972 type international organization focus development of young people environmental education and social care . location reading berkshire uk volunteers 40 000 since 1972 mission to educate and develop young people worldwide by providing inclusive opportunities for them to make a positive difference to the lives of others through a distinctive challenging structured and supported international volunteering experience in a culture and community different from their own . website http www.lattitude.org.uk formerly called gap activity projects lattitude global volunteering formerly gap activity projects is an international charity established in reading berkshire in 1972 to provide opportunities for young people to make a positive difference to the lives of others . these opportunities involve providing 17 to 25 year olds with support to travel outside of their own community in most cases to other countries where they will spend several months assisting with care or educational projects . 1 in 2012 lattitude co ordinated activities for their 40 000th volunteer . 2 the group is also credited with helping to coin the term gap year from its original name . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 rebrand 2 volunteering 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit originally known as gap activity projects the not for profit organisation was founded in 1972 with the mission of creating safe and worthwhile volunteer work for school leavers before moving onto university . the group was officially recognised as a charity in 1976 as they continued to expand the number volunteer opportunities around the world . in 2000 the organisation co founded the year out group to promote the benefits of well structured year out programmes . 2001 saw the opening of three new offices in australia new zealand and canada . 4 in 1995 the organisation was placing 1 500 volunteers per year . 5 by 2005 that number had grown to 2 000 . 6 rebrand edit despite coining the term gap year from its name gap activity projects relaunched in 2008 as lattitude global volunteering . lattitude state that this is to reflect that the organisation is focused on international volunteering projects for young people . 7 the change came less than one year after the clothing retailer gap had taken a gap year company named gap sports to court over trademark infringement . at the time a member of the year out group mentioned that gap sports was not the only member to have faced a challenge from gap inc. 8 . whether or not the name change around this time is coincidental is unknown . volunteering edit volunteers may select from a number of educational social or environmental placements throughout the world . volunteers are required to pay a fee to cover the expenses of the charity as well arranging and paying for their own transport . 9 to reduce the likelihood of cost being a barrier to entry a range of scholarships providing financial support are available along with on fundraising advice and grants . 10 once at their placement volunteers will have their food and accommodation provided . in most instances a portion of the fee is returned to the volunteer over the course of the stay as an allowance . placements last between 3 and 12 months . 11 see also edit gap year project trust gapforce references edit 40 years of volunteering . retrieved 27 may 2012 . lattitude global volunteering announces 40 000th volunteer during 40th anniversary year . year out group . 22 may 2012 . retrieved 27 may 2012 . chrade j.s. 17 march 2010 . history of gap year . butler university . retrieved 27 may 2012 . 40 years of volunteering . retrieved 27 may 2012 . bridging the gap . the independent . 20 september 1995 . retrieved 27 may 2012 . bentham martin 14 august 2005 . tsunami effect lifts gap teens . the guardian . retrieved 27 may 2012 . 40 years of volunteering . retrieved 27 may 2012 . mclennan louisa 18 august 2007 . gap branding dispute settled . the telegraph . retrieved 27 may 2012 . kutchinsky serena 21 june 1998 . don t mind the gap just seriously enjoy it . the independent . retrieved 27 may 2012 . lattitude has right attitude . newcastle herald . retrieved 27 may 2012 . lattitude 2010 brochure pdf . lattitude global volunteering . 2010 . retrieved 27 may 2012 . external links edit charity commission . lattitude global volunteering registered charity no. 272761 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title lattitude global volunteering & oldid 732093375 categories volunteerismcharities based in englandcompanies established in 1972development charities based in the united kingdominternational charities navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated 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