Here's what people have said about us:

I met people like myself who wanted to learn and did not tease me.  The workshops offered me new material that was exciting and stretching and the tutors were prepared to answer lots of questions even late at night!

At school GIFT courses provided a glimmer of hope - they make up an essential part of my studies giving me new subjects to think about and the realisation that I am not alone.

Apart from the fact that I spend a lot of time between courses looking forward to the next one, they have given me a lot more confidence to be able to socialise and to be able to study new subjects unaided.

They have made me realise that my dyslexia is not a hindrance to increasing my knowledge and they’ve allowed me to achieve without my writing problems getting in the way.  They’ve given me increased confidence and decreased isolation.

It’s an experience being with people bubbling out with ideas and enthusiasm for learning and having my brain stretched out right to the limit of what I could follow.

I cannot stress too strongly what a difference GIFT has made to my son’s life.  I daily give thanks that one of his teachers recommended we give them a try.

I will always have memories of the courses.  They have kept me learning and wanting to learn.  These things will carry on so they have made a difference.

It’s supportive, stretching, and, most importantly, regulated only by self-pressure.

However many times you go it never gets boring.

No words could express my gratitude to you and your dedicated team for your incredible input into my son Matthew’s life.  You have helped him not only to build his confidence but also contributed towards enabling him to experience joy and happiness.  Thank you so much.  May God bless you and keep you and cause you to prosper in all that you do.  Much love and gratitude.

The speed of learning was much faster, but because the courses are so specific, it is possible to look at things to a real depth - at which point subjects (which were boring things learnt to pass exams at school) suddenly come to life and make you want to find out more just for the sake of it.

I feel that the courses have made a lasting difference in the way that I look at the work that I do which makes it easier to do.

I am more confident and am willing to try anything.  Many of the people I have met over the years are still in contact with me.  I am sure my high GCSE results were because my interest in learning had been rekindled.

That one weekend was probably equivalent to a term of history and English and several weeks of art.

The GIFT courses were the only places where I felt I fitted in.

Educationally and personally there are enormous benefits.  Because I began learning at a higher level I became much more interested at school and about life in general, and much more confident.

GIFT made  a lasting difference in many ways.  It taught me many of the study skills I am utilising in work, for my degree and life in general.  I have much more confidence, am more outgoing, and much happier.

The GIFT courses furnished me with the sort of knowledge and approach to learning that goes into making a well-rounded individual as well as putting me at an advantage in school work.

I learned not just to believe whatever people say but to explore subjects from different angles.  There is more than one way of doing everything.

Learning at school means to answer the teacher’s questions and fulfil his wishes.  At GIFT each answer was right in its special way and every idea was respected.

Academically constantly-challenging work, flexible study, more discussion more tutor-student interaction, socially - the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people.

GIFT helped me not to feel ashamed of wanting to learn and to do more than the bare minimum at school.  I’ve become more inquisitive and demanding of myself as a result.

There was no element of competition, no nastiness, and the equality between every member of the course created an adult atmosphere which made us respect each other.

We had to find out for ourselves.  I mean really!  Not just pretending to like at school in ‘investigations’.

The benefits? A greater awareness of their own abilities and the hard-working atmosphere of the day.  Enabling students to explore ideas in depth and to work with other year groups, in a smaller number than in a class.  The chance to express themselves and gain in confidence.

It makes a difference especially if they’re not conformist - they realise they are not freaks and that there are people out there who value them.

It is a much more relaxed atmosphere than at school.  This made people more enthusiastic, so more is achieved in a day there than in a day at school.

It is the challenge that makes the greatest lasting difference, even for the less outgoing student who can feel isolated in the mainstream school set-up.  It is the fact that during the course it is not exceptional to be intelligent - it is the norm.

It changed the way I looked at learning completely.  I’m about to begin a research M.Phil. at Cambridge and I don’t think I’d have ever been this enthusiastic without having experience of research type work at such an early age.

The experience of a different approach from that of a school with peers who respond quickly to ideas is invaluable.  The opportunity to study a topic in depth for several hours and at a consistently high level is a new experience, as is often the subject matter itself.  The difference from learning at school is that the whole approach can be and is more adult.  The pupils are more able to explore ideas, go off at a tangent and spend time developing their thoughts and perceptions.

I believe my success is mostly down to the help and support I’ve had from GIFT over the years.

An able child needs to be around able children and friendly adults some time.

I attended many GIFT courses, including residential ones, as a child, and was helped and encouraged greatly by them.  I am a second year Philosophy student at the University of St. Andrews.  GIFT's courses were, during my schooling, the only time I felt at all stretched, and part of a community.  I suspect other, current school pupils may feel similarly - unstretched, apart, different - perhaps it would be useful for them to know that people like me (us) have made it through school and found fulfilment in further study.  I was only able to do this with GIFT's safety net and the knowledge that there WERE other GIFTers around me.  Ignore their public face: schools are institutions, like prisons; GIFT was a sanctuary and we (lecturers and students) looked after each other.  I cannot find the words to explain the debt of gratitude I feel.

My son went to flex his mental muscles away from the rigidity of the National Curriculum, to meet and make new friends with other gifted children and adults, to be able to relax and not feel he stands out so much, and to get some practice with organising himself in the practical aspects of a residential course.  It met all our expectations - he always comes back happy, excited by what he has done, relaxed, and noticeably more confident.

I found that each course was ‘taught’ in a completely different way from the next.  Each course demonstrates new and exciting ways of teaching and learning which makes GIFT more fun and puts school into a whole different light.

School is full of peer pressure.  There is no stress on GIFT.  The lecturers are all so understanding, relaxed and friendly. They treat you with respect.  I meet different people, have loads of fun, and learn a lot.  It is very stressful going to school.  GIFT is just so different.  It makes me feel more confident, special, appreciated and optimistic about the future.

I wanted to meet other people who understood what I was saying.  I wanted the opportunity to be myself.  I can’t thank GIFT enough for everything.

I finally found a place I could fit in.