According to The Times the government will fund gap years for graduates struggling to find jobs. The scheme will help 500 young people to travel on expeditions with Raleigh International. There will be 10 week trips to Borneo, India, Costa Rica and Nicaragua to help with environmental and community projects available. On these tours it is hoped that graduates will learn life skills and leadership qualities that are essential for the work place. The bursary will be open to recent graduates aged 24 or under; who will need to prove that an overseas expedition would be beyond their financial means without assistance. BIS has awarded Raleigh £500,000 which covers £1000 each for the 500 graduates. Raleigh will be match funding this amount, subsidising each graduate place by £1000. Each graduate will need to then fundraise £1000 and pay for flights, vaccinations and kit. In recent new initiatives to beat the recession and unemployment problems, the government has created 2,000 internships and 10,000 new university places. There has been some negative reaction to this programme from the Taxpayers Alliance who see this as a scheme that is papering over the larger unemployment gaps and more irresponsible spending from the government. But Wes Streeting, National Union of Students president said: "With youth employment reaching the one million mark, funding opportunities for skills development is surely better than the soul destroying experience of sitting at home, watching Jeremy Kyle, on the dole,"