Gap-year student Abi Bucknell, 19, of Victoria Walk, has just returned from a four-month project in the country.

Travelling with Africa and Asia Venture, Abi taught in schools in the rural town of Philippolis, in the Karoo.

The gap-year firm sends volunteers to teach in five schools in the poverty-stricken rural community.

Abi said: "I want to raise awareness of the importance of volunteering. On arrival in South Africa the most astonishing thing I noticed was the fact that serious apartheid is still a huge issue there. Arriving at the school I taught in was an experience I will never forget. So many schools are in desperate need of not only money, but also care and devotion for their children.

"It's a massive cliché so I hate to say it, but the time I spent in Philippolis was honestly the best thing I have ever done. The only real way to learn about the problems we have in the world is to experience them first hand."

Abi is now set to start York St Johns University in September where she will study for a dance degree.