Help for gap year travellers

6:30am Tuesday 31st July 2007

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The family of an Oxford student killed on her gap year trip have raised tens of thousands of pounds just days after launching a charity to help other travellers.

GapAid will help young people prepare for their own adventures and stay safe once they are abroad.

Georgia French, 19, from Davenant Road, North Oxford, died in a bus crash high in the Peruvian mountains in March.

She was killed as she travelled with two school friends to the Inca site at Machu Picchu just weeks into a trip of a lifetime.

Now, Georgia's parents Ian and Pat want to create a tribute to her to help ensure the safety of thousands of young people who embark on gap year trips - often to developing countries.

They have been inundated with support from local people and businesses - including pledges of several thousand pounds, computer equipment and temporary office space.

But Mr French said a huge fundraising push was needed to raise £250,000 to firmly establish GapAid as an advice centre.

He said: "We will never get over losing our beautiful daughter but we now wish to create something useful and relevant which will help our young people as they enjoy their trips.

"Hopefully, GapAid will be both a lasting memorial to Georgia and a truly valuable resource for thousands of gappers who set out each year."

Following Georgia's death, Mr French said the family began to ask questions about the tragedy and discovered there is a real issue with the information and support available to young travellers.

Mr French said: "We were contacted by many parents concerned that their children were about to embark on a gap year and heading to developing countries and other dangerous areas and many others who had experienced problems and struggled to get the help needed.

"These kids have little knowledge or experience of these types of countries and don't realise the lack of help available when things go wrong.

"The Foreign Office was great in helping us, but they can only do so much. We want to give kids something they can plug into.

"Firstly we want GapAid to become the defacto advice site for gappers before they go away.

"Secondly, we will aim to give proactive advice that will use web and voice technology to keep people in touch while travelling - and aware of local information.

"And thirdly, we want to create the ability to liaise with relevant agencies in cases of serious problems."

Mr French said the next stage was to employ researchers to maintain the website and write and update content.

He said: "Although we are primarily looking for money, we're also looking to involve businesses in the area who can help GapAid."

The charity is now planning awareness campaigns and fundraising events.

For more information and to donate, log on to website www.gapaid.org