I have been chosen as one of 10 pupils from St Matthew's Academy who will be travelling to Mzuzu, Malawi in June 2017. I will be volunteering at St Peter's Secondary (our partner school), the Mary Martha Orphan centre, the Woman's Development centre and the local hospital. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity and I hope, with your support that I will be able to make a positive impact on the lives of those I meet. The £1500 that I am hoping to raise will cover my flights, insurance, malaria medication and injections. I will also be running various fundraising events throughout the year to help me meet my target.

I have been involved in my schools Malawi group since I started attending St Matthew's and have been inspired by others who have helped strengthen our relationship to take on a more serious role in senior school. I have helped contribute to our annual Christmas parcels that we send to the Mary Martha Orphan centre to ensure that every child has a gift to open for Christmas. We also fundraise in school to raise money to hold a Christmas party for the Orphan centre, during which we provide a hot meal for every child. For some, this may be the only opportunity throughout the year that they will get to eat meat. In the past 18 months we have focused on raising £4500 to build a science block with St Peter's, and now that building work has commenced, we are preparing for our visit to meet our friends and strengthen the continuously growing relationship between us.

The work that we do is incredibly important and is making a huge difference for so many people. Thank you for all of your support.