A STUDENT abseiled more than 20 metres down a church tower to raise money for a one year volunteering placement at a school in Namibia.

Izzy Richards, 18, took on the daredevil challenge at Bowness-on-Windermere’s St Martins Church - raising £1,500 in the process.

“At the top it was quite nerve wracking,” she said.

“It was quite slippy when I was up there but when I came down it was really fun and you could see the whole of Bowness.”

Miss Richards will be volunteering with the Otjikondo School Village Foundation (OSVF), a registered welfare organisation that supports a boarding school for approximately 240 children between the ages of six and 14.

OSVF aims to give children from differing backgrounds a well rounded education and to furnish them with the skills and talents necessary for a successful future.

During her year with the foundation, Miss Richards will be teaching extra-curricular art, music and hockey.

She said: “A lot of my family took a gap year so I always wanted to do one myself.

“I didn’t just want to do typical travelling but didn’t think I would be able to afford to volunteer.”

Project Trust, the non-profit organisation which is preparing Miss Richards for her year away, has been organising long term voluntary placements in Africa, Asia and Latin America for young people since 1967.

Miss Richards has raised £4,749 so far and is around £1,500 short of her goal.

She will leave for Namibia later this year and is planning on doing several other fundraising events to achieve her goal.

lVisit www.facebook.com/IzzysYearinAfrica to find out more.