Student nurses from East Oxford are hoping to raise £2,000 for a children's hospital in India, where they plan to spend three weeks as vol- unteers.

Lucy Botting and Anneka Dye, of Bartlemas Road, Julia Knight, of Southfield Road, and Nicole Junker, of St Mary's Road, who are all in their second year at Oxford Brookes University, will be travelling to Gwalior Children's Hospital, in New Delhi in September.

Miss Botting, 21, said: "We just thought it was a really good cause and we wanted to help. They are really deprived children and need funds, and we also wanted to expand our nursing skills."

Gwalior Children's Hospital is a UK-based charity, founded in 1997, and is a specialist hospital with facilities for women and children, including an eye care centre, dental clinic and a mobile hospital.

Miss Botting and her friends are hoping to raise money by carrying out bag-packing at a local supermarket and collecting on the street.

They are also hoping to hold a big fundraising event, although the details are yet to be confirmed. So far they have raised about £300.

She said: "It will be a really big shock and a real eye-opener compared to what we are used to here in Oxford.

"Hopefully we'll be going into the slums helping out with the travelling hospital."

It is the first visit to India for all four women. Miss Botting added: "We are excited but also nervous as well because it will be such a culture shock and we don't really know what to expect."

The group will be paying for their own travelling expenses, so all money raised will go directly to the hospital. For more details, go to www.justgiving.com/nurses2 india