TWINS Judith and Laura Merry came from humble beginnings and face a constant struggle with muscular dystrophy, but this has only made them more determined to help others.

Born in a Thai orphanage with a genetic muscle condition, the fate of the girls – now 23 – could have been very different.

But one Oxfordshire couple’s love of tennis changed the twins’ fate for good.

Judith, 23, said initially two Thai couples shared the responsibility of fostering her and her sister but found it difficult to cope – so they put up a sign asking for help at the English Embassy Tennis Club in Bangkok.

That sign was spotted by tennis club regulars Terry and Bob Merry, from Oxfordshire, who volunteered to help out with the babies before adopting them.

The girls’ muscular dystrophy was officially diagnosed when they were four years old and the family had moved back to Worminghall, near Thame.

But while the condition has since put them in wheelchairs, self-pity is the last thing on their minds.

Their school days – at St Joseph’s and Lord Williams’s in Thame – revealed the twins were both intelligent and tenacious and hinted at things to come.

“I wrote my first ‘campaigning’ letter at 11,” said Judith.

“I felt my headteacher had unfairly ruled me out of going on a school trip, so I wrote and told him so.”

Since then there has been no shortage of projects and campaigns to keep them busy.

Laura wants to become a teacher and Judith has ambitions of being a lobbyist.

She has just been chosen as one of just 45 young leaders spearheading a nationwide food poverty campaign, run by the National Young Volunteers Service.

She said: “Many people think that food poverty is only a problem in Third World countries but one in four families in the UK suffer from it.

“I have been rallying volunteers to help me collect 500 items of non-perishable food before Sunday, which we will donate to Oxford’s Gatehouse charity and Oxford Community Emergency Foodbank in time for Christmas.

“And tomorrow, I will be hosting an event at Thame Town Hall with activities and music, raising awareness of the campaign.”

Judith and Laura are also young ambassadors for the national Muscular Dystrophy campaign, fighting for better disabled access. And each Thursday, the twins can also be heard championing their causes on internet radio station StudyVoxFM.com.

To help the food poverty campaign, email Judith.

Merry@vinspired.com or call 07515 145633.