Pre-University Engineering Placement/Experience

(Original post by LM99)
I am an 18yo Pre-University student taking a year out between finishing high school and starting at Glasgow University next September to study Mechanical Engineering. I had a work placement lined up until April next year with a company based in Edinburgh. However this recently fell through and I am now without any sort of relevant experience for the year. Originally I signed up to the EDT year in industry however their options for placements in Scotland were limited let alone Edinburgh, I then resorted to contacting the previously mentioned company and went in for an interview, which went brilliantly and I was told that the only remaining formality was approval by HR who were based down in England. This took about a month to happen and I was then told that they were not able to hire me due to budgetary restrictions, leaving me without any plans. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me or anyone else in a similar situation on how to make the most of my gap year and gain some relevant experience.
Cheers