News & Info > Three MAA Gap Year Grants awarded to Middle Sixth Form Pupils Three MAA Gap Year Grants awarded to Middle Sixth Form Pupils The Milton Abbey Association (MAA) set up Gap Year Grants five years ago. Their aim was to encourage Middle Sixth Form pupils intending to take a gap year to use their time in a constructive and purposeful way. During the Easter holidays of their final year, pupils put together a written application for a £1000 Gap Year Grant showing how they would use the funds to 'participate in an educational, vocational, adventurous or charitable project' during their gap year. The applicants are then interviewed by members of the MAA Committee before a final decision is made about the successful candidate. The MAA normally give one or two grants per year, but this year, exceptionally, they decided that three applications deserved to succeed, despite being very different from each other. The 2017 MAA Gap Year Grants, of £1000 each, have been awarded to the following pupils: Harry - Harry is travelling to a remote Fijian island under a scheme called ‘Think Pacific’. He will become a member of a Fijian family and work as a member of a team contributing to education, youth and sports development projects for two months, as well as travelling. Tara - Tara is travelling to Gambia from January to May 2018, with an international mission called Crosslinks. She will work in local schools, take part in youth work, serve a local church and participate in local building projects. Oliver - Oliver will be using the grant to part-fund a polar training course which will give him the necessary skills to participate in an eventual expedition; he plans to trek 350 miles from Resolute in Canada to the North Pole with Henry Cookson Adventures. To do this he needs to raise a total of £40,000.