Trekking in the Himalayas, riding on elephants and visiting Buddhist temples were all part of an adventure of a lifetime for a group of Hampshire students.

Alton College students spent a year working and fundraising to save £2,000 each for a 10-day trip to Nepal in October.

Among the 31 students who flew to Asia was Daisy Van der Lande, 17, from Selborne.

“I had such an amazing time,” she said. “Going to Nepal taught me that it’s really important to get stuck in and learn about another culture. There are so many different ways of life out there, and sometimes it takes being somewhere completely different that takes you out of your comfort zone to make you stop and appreciate what’s around you. I never did that before at home.”

The adventure has given Daisy a thirst for travel and after finishing her A-levels she plans to take a gap year to explore South America, before studying English literature and history of art at university.

The trip was organised with travel company True Adventure, but the students planned what they were going to do, and booked transport and accommodation.

Daisy’s favourite part of the trip was trekking in the Himalayas. “The scenery is incredible — television doesn’t do it justice at all,” she said. “You feel so small in comparison to these mountains, they’re ridiculously big, there’s no feeling like it. You’ll be looking at one that’s the other side of the valley and you’ll be thinking, oh, that’s a tiny little hill, but actually it’s 5km above you. It’s quite humbling.

“We stayed in tea houses, which are like B&Bs, just four walls and a tin roof. They’re run by families, and we got to know the owners and played with the children. It was very one-to-one and personal, which was lovely.”

One of the hardest parts of the trek said Daisy was when two students became very ill with food poisoning.

“That hit us on the evening of the second day of the trek,” she said.

“The next day we had a really hard day, and half way through the whole team got together and worked out how we could get these people up the mountain. We carried their bags, and each of them had someone stood behind pushing them up, and another person in front pulling them forward. We got them to the top and it was freezing. That evening over dinner we had a heart to heart and everyone just broke down.”

“Then we had to decide whether to go on to Poon Hill. The leaders had decided the two people were too ill to go on, so we had to decide whether to carry on without them, or cut the trek short and miss the sunset on Poon Hill, which apparently is one of the most amazing sun sets you can ever see in the world.

“It was possibly the hardest decision that any of us had ever had to make, because you have to decide whether you want to stay as a team, or see this incredible sight. We decided to go down. It was definitely the right decision.”

Art and design lecturer Ivan Bicknell joined the students on the trip. “Out of everything I do at the college, it’s the thing where I see the learning taking place more than anywhere else,” he said.

“The life skills they learn goes way beyond what you can ever do in a classroom. It’s fantastic; they grow so much and change a lot. It teaches them about taking on responsibility, leadership, working as a team and supporting each other.

“It gives them a lot of confidence. They will reap the rewards.”

Staff and students at West Nottinghamshire College dug deep in their pockets for Children in Need.

Top of the bill was comedy improvisation from performing arts students in the 150-seat Create Theatre at the Derby Road campus. The theatre was sold out for two nights as the students raised a laugh — and some cash (the students’ union was determined to raise more than £2,000, beating last year’s total of £1,655).

Student Daniel Salmon said: “To put a skill we learn in college into something fantastic like raising money for Children in Need is terrific. It makes you feel amazing.”

Molly Murdoch said: “It wasn’t easy — it was quite tricky to get it all prepared in time and get everyone together, but I think we pulled it out of the bag.”

Tutor Andy Dobb said: “The students really impressed us with how quickly and creatively they responded to the union request to put on a comedy show for this good cause. They should be very proud.”

Other activities to bring in the pennies included visits to other college campuses by Pudsey Bear, Children in Need’s mascot, and the college’s Butterflies day nursery staff donning their pyjamas. Students also sold Pudsey merchandise and cakes and organised a quiz, as well as a prize tombola and bingo game.

Staff and students at Warwickshire College had a hectic “entrepreneurial week”.

It all kicked off when Julie Meyer, the founder of Ariadne Capital and a Dragon in the BBC’s online Dragons’ Den, visited the college’s Rugby centre. She talked to students before receiving business pitches from two groups from the college’s Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.

In her speech she stressed that the new world of venture capitalism was not about who had the money, but about entrepreneurs and ideas.

Student Lucy Ward, 17, said: “I thought it was really inspirational. I learned about how she planned as she went along and not be in the mindset of making money, just to do everything step-by-step.”

Other areas of the college also took on the enterprise spirit with great enthusiasm.

Construction students won a bid to refurbish old sash windows at Moreton Morrell, m otor maintenance students offered winter car checks and valeting services, and art students raised nearly £1,000 at an arts bazaar.

There was also the opportunity for students to get information on business start-up loans, get involved in workshops on setting up businesses, and take part in networking events.

November becomes Movember for many men as they valiantly grow moustaches to raise money for charity. Staff at Middlesbrough College got in on the action — with support from two Middlesbrough Football Club players who helped to raise awareness of men’s health, including prostate and testicular cancers.

No subject was too tough to tackle for players Rhys Williams and Curtis Main.

Changing room banter, team talks, the size of the crowd and away fans’ chants were just some of the subjects covered during a question and answer session.

“I’ve known a few Aussie footballers who’ve had scares relating to testicular cancer, and I’d tell anyone to get themselves to the doctor when they first suspect something might be wrong,” said Rhys, 24.

Middlesbrough College FC coach and former Boro player Neil Maddison also pitched in at the event, with comedian John Ryan.

The get-together featured moustaches of every shape and size, including impressive facial adornments sported by Tom Metcalfe, college project manager, Alister Wrigley, commercial catering manager, and Steve Ankers, deputy director of construction — all members of the college’s “Mo Bros”, a group who started November clean-shaven but who have groomed their facial hair for the past month.

A sports hall at Chesterfield College has been renamed to honour Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis. The heptathlete, who visited the college for the first time this month to open its new “heart space”, library, and guidance centre, said that she felt “very special”.

The college’s performing arts students gave a concert before Jessica took part in a question and answer session. She then toured the new building that will provide students with a space to study, eat, socialise and receive advice on their studies and career path.

Then it was a case of seeing double at the renamed sports hall when former art student Pete Barber of Urban Canvas presented his mural of Jessica for the hall corridor (see picture).

She ended her visit with sports staff and students who were holding athletics sessions with local primary pupils. Jessica said she was impressed by the new building — “it looks really bright and modern. It’s nice to see what they’ve done, it looks amazing.”

Principal Trevor Clay said students would now have a bright, modern, informal space in which they could study and socialise. “It feels like the heart of the college, hence its name ‘heart space’. Everyone is delighted that Jessica was able to launch the facility for us.”

A food writer and chef has helped to set up a seafood academy at a college on the south coast.

The Mitch Tonks Seafood Academy has been opened to inspire young chefs and is set to put South Devon College on the map for seafood excellence.

“I’ve long been a believer that the south west has the best seafood in the world and this academy will really develop the potential of young chefs to help them to become some of the best seafood chefs in the country,” said Tonks, who owns three restaurants, one this year’s Best Seafood Restaurant.

“One of my own goals for my businesses is to promote the whole area as Britain’s seafood coast — an area where people from all over world will travel to enjoy it’s famed seafood.

“One of the challenges with this, and one we all face within the restaurant industry, is a skill shortage of properly trained staff, especially of chefs that have a good understanding of seafood.”

Colleges from across the North East were on to a winner when Sunderland College organised a five-a-side football tournament for students with learning difficulties and disabilities.

A group of student volunteers organised the contest as part of a Together Activity Group (TAG) scheme.

Project coordinator Rachael Smales said the tournament had been a huge success. “Many of the students taking part have not got involved in organised sporting activities before,” she said.

“They all really enjoyed the experience and it is great the other colleges from across the region are willing to get involved.”

She said that Sunderland aimed to give students the best college experience possible, “no matter what their interests or attainment level”.

The student volunteers have also organised Zumba classes, breakfast clubs and gym sessions. Former student Konnor McCully is a TAG project volunteer who became involved through Durham FA’s Football Foundation Programme. “The whole day has been fantastic, it could not have gone better,” he said.

“I love volunteering with the TAG Project; it is fun, exciting, and great teaching the students skills within football. I have learnt a lot too.”

Tyne Met College won the tournament final, beating Sunderland College 3-1.

Cupcakes were at the centre of Colleges Week celebrations at Richmond upon Thames College.

Visitors who made it to the catering department during an open evening were encouraged to roll up their sleeves and practise their icing and decorating skills — with the promise of a tasty treat at the end. Pre-decorated cupcakes were sold to raise money for Children in Need.

“It was great fun learning how to pipe the icing, and I was really pleased with the result as it looked and tasted delicious,” said Georgia Petrou, 16, from Sunbury Manor School.

Richmond’s catering department is home to Merits, a training restaurant where students gain the skills to become the chefs and food service staff of the future. Helping at the Colleges Week event were students Laura Bamford, Rosie Buckle, Ben Harris, Marion Kamau Njoki and Scott Tuckwell.

“It was fun being the teacher instead of the student,” Laura said. “And the cupcakes decorated by the guests looked brilliant. They were really enthusiastic and it was nice to show off some of the skills that we’ve been taught.”

You either love it or you hate it. Former Coleg Gwent student and artist Nathan Wyburn loves it – and so he should. The 23-year-old is best known for his portrait work produced by spreading Marmite on toast…

Nathan recently visited current students at the college’s Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone to teach them about using alternatives to paint, such as sugar, chocolate or ketchup.

Inspired by everyday objects that most people take for granted, Nathan has also used snow, pen lids, soil, newspaper cut-outs and candles to produce his art. He also films the process and broadcasts the time-lapse videos on his YouTube channel.

Nathan showed A level and BTEC art students a variety of his work commissioned for big name brands such as Marmite, BIC, Costa and Hovis, as well as for charity projects.

“Coleg Gwent have always been really supportive of my work, so it’s great to speak to art students here. Hopefully it’ll inspire them to try new things,” he said.

Motivated by Nathan’s radical approach, students experimented with toast and marmite to produce an impressive mosaic of British singer songwriter Tulisa Contostavlos.

Nathan Morgan, 20 from Tredegar, said: “It’s brilliant to learn from someone successful, but also approachable and friendly. Nathan’s from our local area so we can really relate to him.”

The session was part of students’ enrichment programme, which provides extra opportunities for students to improve their skill and experience.