Yesterday Dive The Gap was at Cherwell School in Oxford for the Gap Year fair organised by the charity within the college.

Thanks to all those who came down despite it being a lovely summers day, or as the government likes to call it, a category 3 heatwave. Unfortunately due to the late date of this years fair there were a shortage in numbers, and we had to cancel the KEYNOTE for the day. Next year we are aiming for an earlier date.

Dive The Gap hosts scuba diving talks at the Oxford Gap Year Fair

Yesterday Dive The Gap was at Sharnbrook Upper School, a school that 3 of our divers have come from. Jon, one of our diving instructors, was also a student at Sharnbrook, but unfortunatly he could not make it due to being in a sunnier part of the world at the time. Chris, who finished his Divemaster Programme this time last week, was back in Britain and ready to show me his former school (he brought the weather back with him as well).

A new concept known as 4 in the morning was introduced to me in order to get to Sharbrook for the starting time of 8am. We met plenty of people interested in a bit of Gap Year Scuba Diving, so thanks for coming down. The only criticism being that it seamed to have been organised as a large exhibition when it was not, which lead to the students clustering and then leaving in sporadic intervals rather like M25 traffic jams. To use the good old 2 busses analogue I think sums it up.

Chris (visible) and Robin (hiding) at Sharnbrook Upper School Gap Year Fair on Monday

Dive The Gap exhibits gap year scuba diving with Farnborough Sixth Form College to the students.  Professional scuba diving was a very popular option as a means of funding a travel around the world, work in the industry and for the vocational qualifications. It was also just down the road from HQ. We exhibited across the sessions and met with students after they had a briefing with the friendly anorak from Virgin Atlantic.

Thanks to all of you that came down to the scorching sports hall.

Robin and Paul host Gap Year and Career Development Scuba Diving talks at Farnborough College Moving On Day. Once again we took up a quarter of the venue.

Dive The Gap ventures to the British docks for the Bristol Grammar School Gap Year Fair. Here we hosted scuba diving and more specifically Gap Year professional training in the Great Hall at the school.

We set up all of our exhibition material in the Great Hall, halling it up several full sets of stairs, before later finding a much closer car park which would have required far lesser effort.

Thanks to all those who came down and we will keep you apprised of the latest developments.

Dive The Gap host Scuba Diving talks and particularly PADI professional training at the Bristol Grammar School Gap Year Fair. Robin (left) and Louis, Dive The Gap's First PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

Climbing the hills at Bath, Flossy (the Sat Nav) got so lost that she took us down a narrowing path until she told us to turn right off a cliff. After giving her the sack we found the college overlooking the whole town.

Reception was good an we thank those for coming down but must also point out that there was a clash with the colleges Drama event which lead many of the colleges own alumni unable to attend.

Robin and Paul, who seams to be looking at something in the corner of the room, at the Bath Gap Year Fair hosting Gap Year Scuba Diving talks.

On Friday we drove over to Eton College, a mere stones throw away this time. At Eton we exhibited PADI professional scuba diver training as a method of funding travel and earning a living on a Gap Year. Dive The Gap’s big stand had both directors standing in front of it for the first time (possibly blocking most of it as well).

It was nice to meet some keene divers down at Eton and we shall be in contact shortly with additional information about all the available possibilities for those that asked.

Robin and Paul at Eton College discussing PADI Professional Diver Training for Gap Years and Vocational Training

On Friday we headed up to Oundle School just shy of Peterborough. The drive involved the use if 3 separate Motorways so you can imagine my frustrations with endless miles of seemingly unnecessary road works.

Unfortunately this time the turnout was not great (possibly due to synchronised scheduling with a world cup football match). Nonetheless, those of you that still made it down despite the pressure, we thank you.

Dive The Gap at Oundle School Gap Year Fair exhibiting professional scuba diver training with PADI

Dive The Gap hosts professional scuba diving talks with Radley College. Now normally I would have a great big rant about traffic jams, but this time there weren’t any. Possibly because Radley College is about 40 minutes from our HQ in Ascot.

Thanks for all those who came down and best wishes to Mike for getting everybody into diving in the first place.

Dive The Gap at Radley College promoting professional scuba diver training for Gap Years

Mission to Debryshire proved to be highly successful. The road up there this time evaded the purgatory of the M25 and cruised instead through beautiful English countryside (once we cleared the M6 toll). The Gap Year fair inside the main hall was a huge success with parents and students coming alike all interested in a but of Gap Year professional scuba diver training. “I took 40 minutes before I had a moment to put on my Dive The Gap T-Shirt” and other than a peculiar questionable smell flowing of the Debryshire countryside was a very plesent evening. Thanks in part to the proactive member of Repton staff who organised ‘the tough guys’ to help out with packing afterwards.

Who would have though as well that us lowly exhibitors would be treated to Salmon, Quiche and a glass of Petit Chablis 2008. Thanks very much for all that.

From those that we spoke to the general theme was that becoming a PADI Divemaster or PADI Instructor was the way to travel around the world on a gap year. For more information on these two visit the links above. Thanks to everyone who attended.

Exhibition time again. Dive The Gap headed over to Rutland to exhibit at the Options and Gap Fair in Memorial Hall. After 2 months the government still seams to be pretending to fix the M25 but fortunately it was a Saturday and traffic was moving fairly fluidly under the watchful eye of the average speed camera.

Interesting reception of people that we met, thanks to everyone who came down. There was much interest from people regarding the PADI Divemaster qualification as a means of funding travel and enhancing personal statements. The programme that connects to this qualification is open to everyone, even complete beginners and can be found under Divemaster Training

Robin hosts scuba diving talks with Uppingham School

After finding out that it would be illegal to drive a car with one’s head out of the window, we decided it was about time we fixed the windscreen wipers on the merc before making the journey up to Berkhamsted. Traffic conditions were once again appaling. On the M25 the sat nav actually asked me if I wanted to switch to pedestrian mode.

At Berkhamsted a helpful memeber of staff directed us through to the hall and we began setting up the stand. I was unable to set up the larger stand due to the size of the venue, but tactfully we were placed right by the tea and coffee table. Thanks to all those who came down to visit, once again it was nice to meet some truly interested people. Keep track of what is going on at facebook.com/divethegap.

Looks like this summer is going to be rather busy.

Dive The Gap at the Collegiate of Berkhamsted hosting gap year diving talks.

After being stuck in the longest traffic jam in all of human history we made it to Haileybury with 15 minutes to spare. It seams that the M25 is nothing more than one enormous set of road works, with nothing really going on I might add. I don’t know why they call it an M when it is quite clearly nothing but a queue.

Thanks to all who came down to the Big School Auditorium, beautiful place I might add. Jon and I found ourselves rather busy. Once again the award for the finest brownies goes to our next door neighbour, keep baking them. And thanks for the tip from the headmaster after the fair.

Jon and Robin hosting Gap Year Diving talks at Haileybury School Gap Year Fair

The journey down to Bradfield involved using the motorway for three junctions, only three. How is it the the transport network needs to have two individual sets of road works, each 3 miles long limiting top speed to 50 mph under the watchful eye of the persecuting average speed camera. Once we arrived Jennie got lost trying to find a petrol station forgetting that Bradfield is in the middle of the British countryside.

In the ‘Old Gym’ we unveiled our new exhibition stand. You can see it in the photo below with a larger than life print of jennie diving in the background. Thank you to all who came down, it was nice to actually meet some people who really wanted to take a Gap Year. There was an aleged complaint about the size of the stand even though it was in no way interfering with anyone elses and for the life of me I can’t think who would make such a suggestion.

Nice to have returned to my old school and found everything as I left it, except the new Music School…  very different!

Jennie stands in front of a large picture of herself hosting professional scuba diving talks at the Gap Year Fair at Bradfield College

Despite Shrewsbury being further away than the moons of jupiter we made the mission up to exhibit in Kingsland Hall. The Dive The Gap Land Rover was replaced for this mission by a German Messerschmitt on the grounds that it was more likely to actually get us there.

Thanks to all who came down. I must also congratulate the organisers for very wisely putting the fair on the last day of term. To me that is a much better time than a Sunday evening on Mother’s day. Well done chaps it’s about time someone used a bit of common sense.

Dive The Gap hosts professional scuba diving talks at the Gap Year Fair at Shrewsbury School.

This time the car did not break down on the way. 2 new cylinders and a turbo have been fitted to our Landrover which has made it much faster, far more reliable and outrageously noisy. John, our underwater photographer, and Jennie, accountant, joined me down in the unheated sports hall at Wellington College. Unfortunately someone scheduled the fair on a Sunday night and on Mothering Sunday so turnout was a bit bleak, however this was overpowered by just how good the catering staff were at making tea.

For those of you who did make it down despite Mothers Day, we thank you and hope to see you soon.

After breaking down on the way Dive The Gap eventually made it to the 2010 Gap Year Fair at Malvern St. James School. The stand was extremely popular after being sandwiched between a Charity agency and a Catering Recruiting agency. Thanks for That!

Thanks to all those who came down to the graduate fairs. We had a wonderful reception at all 3 and hope to be back again next year.

Dive The Gap at the London Graduate Fair

On Tuesday and Wednesday DIVE THE GAP will be attending the London Graduate Fair hosted by The Guardian newspaper. We will be there all day, both days.

Dive The Gap heads up North to meat the graduates at Leeds and Bradford Universities. Who would of though it could be so difficult getting up their by train.