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After completing her A-levels at Central Newcastle High School, Charlotte was chosen to take part in the Prime Minister's Global Fellowship.

It was a new programme for the British Government's Talent and Enterprise Task Force run by the British Council to enable 100 school leavers from across England to visit a major country of the new global economy.

Charlotte said she was drawn to the scheme because it offered a unique opportunity to travel to a new country and experience a completely different culture.

Charlotte with her letter from Gordon Brown

She was also keen to take part as the trip would allow her to meet new people of her own age both from across England and in the host country.

Packed trains

After applying, she was invited to Manchester for a tough selection day which included team-building activities and an individual interview.

She was successful and was one of only three young people in the North East chosen. It meant in summer 2008 she spent six weeks in India.

Here she writes about some of her experiences:

I spent my first two weeks in India learning about the culture and language of the country.

During this time, a highlight for me was definitely a visit to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. On the day, we woke up at 4am to get the train from Delhi Railway Station to Agra.

It was interesting to see the station and the trains as India is known for its extensive railway system. We were shocked by the amount of people that fitted on to the trains!

Charlotte with the rest of the group in India

On arrival at Agra, the monsoon season was definitely upon us and the weather did not look optimistic!

Taj Mahal

In the morning we visited Fatehpur Sikri, a majestic red sandstone fort built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 1500s. The fort was beautiful but the rain dampened our spirits a little.

We were all keeping our fingers crossed for sunshine in the afternoon for the Taj! Luckily, the skies cleared as we walked to the entrance of the Taj Mahal gardens and collected our shoe covers - shoes aren't allowed on the white marble mausoleum!

The first view of the Taj Mahal is simply breathtaking! The detail on the exterior of the white marble panels is exquisite with Islamic calligraphy decorating the tomb and the four symmetrical minarets standing proudly. Totally amazing!

We all absolutely loved the Taj and I would recommend it to everyone as a masterpiece to visit at some point in your lifetime!

When we arrived at the home we were greeted by 30 smiling girls, who were all keen to perform dance routines and songs for us and have a big game of football!

The sense of community is overwhelming within the home and all the girls help to take care of each other. As one girl said to me: "It doesn't matter that we don't have our own parents because we are all one big family here."

The home relies on volunteers and donations to look after the children and gives them the opportunity to gain an education at local schools. I hope that at some point in the future I may be able to go back to the home and volunteer with the girls!

Charlotte wearing a sari

Fantastic experience

After this, I moved in with a host family for the next two weeks, attending school with my host partner and experiencing the Indian education system.

Then, I was reunited with my group to travel to Bangalore to work at Tesco HSC for a further two weeks.

This was an incredible chance to experience global business and a huge learning curve for me! I also managed to squeeze in a weekend visit to Mumbai to see the famous Gateway of India and Oval Maiden.

Overall, the whole experience was fantastic! I learned lots about the Indian culture, education system and business practices as well as personally gaining confidence and independence and I now feel ready to tackle the challenge of moving to London for my university studies!

I also met some incredible people on the trip and made friends for life!

The PMGF scheme is running again this year so I would urge all school leavers and gap year students to apply, particularly from the North East as we were definitely under-represented this year! You won't regret the experience!