STUDENTS from Okehampton College went on a life-changing trip this summer, helping orphans in Bulgaria.

A group of Year 11 and Year 12 students travelled to Bulgaria in July and arranged a week of activities for the children of Barzitsa Orphanage, home to around 80 children aged between four and eighteen.

The trip was co-ordinated by the college with assistance from the House of Rachel charity.

The team ran workshops in sports, crafts and music to boost the children's self-esteem and confidence. The summer months are when the children will not be at school, and are most vulnerable to getting involved with criminal gangs.

The workshops are a fun way to develop new social and vocational skills and prevent the children from getting involved with crime.

House of Rachel founder Andrew Morgan said: 'For many of the college students, this was a life-changing experience. This is an annual trip for Year 12 students but this year we had to include the students who went last year too. Every single one wanted to return and many of the students who will have left the college.

'One thing which always amazes me and catches the students unaware is that they spend so much time preparing to give, but receive so much more in return. For me as a man of faith, I recognise this as the playing out of Biblical ethics, but it is nevertheless, still a joy to see year on year with every student who goes.'

Among the main aims for the trip this year was the launch of the jewellery project for youngsters at Barzitsa. The volunteers provided all the materials needed for children to make jewellery which is then brought back to the UK and sold.

The money raised is then re-invested into more materials to keep the project going. Profits will be set aside for further work at the orphanage.

Through the project, children at Barzitsa develop essential skills in running a cottage industry, being able to add things like marketing, budgeting and manufacturing to their skill set.

Mr Morgan said: 'All of these things will make them more attractive to potential employers and help them to climb out of the poverty trap and avoid the fate of so many of their peers. It is a sad fact of life for the orphaned and abandoned children of Bulgaria that so many end up in a life of crime or being trafficked for sex.

'It is our desire that through such projects as this, and with the wonderful and valuable contribution of the students from Okehampton College, many children can be saved from this fate.'

This year, seven children reached the end of state care and had to leave the local orphanages. With the House of Rachel's partner charity the Hope and Future Foundation, these youngsters have been found work, college places or carer families.

For more information on the work of the charity, visit http://www.houseofrachel.org">www.houseofrachel.org