YOUNG people from across South Oxfordshire flew out to Kenya yesterday with boxes of clothes for a charity mission.

The group of seven students are going out to western Kenya with Abingdon-based charity The Nasio Trust.

They will build mud huts and chicken coops, teach in schools, and visit hospitals on the 10-day trip.

Megan Garvey, 15, from Berinsfield, went out with the project last year. Speaking from Heathrow where she was about to board the plane, the Wallingford School pupil said: “I can’t wait. We have lots of things planned and are going to see the children again which I look forward to.

“You help them but at the same time you have an amazing experience which not many people get.

“You see on TV what it looks like – skinny cows and mud huts.

“We get to meet children our own age too and a lot of them speak English quite well. They are keen to learn, which makes you appreciate your own education.”

Last year Megan helped out in schools, cleaning and painting classrooms, and in hospitals.

The students are each allowed to take a charity bag with their luggage and books, clothes, and stationery to hand out.

Organiser John Cornelius, of The Nasio Trust, said: “A lot of people can be blinkered, to be honest, so this will be an amazing experience. It will be life-changing. There is no doubt about that.”

The students have each raised £1,230 towards the trip.

A concert held by musical group Musicause at Wallingford Baptist Church on Saturday raised another £1,000.

The charity also hopes to wash the feet of 300 children with disinfectant to help get rid of parasites before handing out shoes. The Nasio Trust, of Nuffield Way, Abingdon, runs day care centres in Kenya for orphaned children.

For more information, visit the website nasiotrust.org