A HUDDERSFIELD teacher is planning to spend her summer holiday help tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

Catherine Beamond, 24, of Lindley, will travel to Sri Lanka on July 24, and will spend four weeks in the country, helping with the post-tsunami clear-up operation in Mount Lavinia, Dehiwala and Moratuwa.

She will also spend time clearing beaches in coastal resorts.

Catherine, who teaches at St Augustines CE Primary School in Halifax, is travelling to Sri Lanka with Leeds-based organisation I-To-I, which co-ordinates specialist volunteering trips.

She said: "I wanted to go out to an area affected by the tsunami and help with the clear up operations.

"I contacted a few organisations and found that they were not sending people out.

"Then the Examiner featured a night manager from ASDA who went out to Sri Lanka with I-to-I.

"I decided to contact them at beginning of February and booked my place on the trip.

"I am really looking forward to going out there. I enjoying visiting other countries and being part of a different culture."

Catherine will have to clean debris from affected areas, as well as raising awareness among communities about how to keep their environment clean. She will also be helping plant trees to protect the damaged beaches from erosion.

The experience will be very different from Catherine's previous overseas volunteering. In 2000 she spent the summer at a camp in America, working with children from cities.

She said: "Volunteers must be up for hard, physical work. This will be new for me."

Catherine is trying to raise £1,400 to help cover her flight and project fee on the trip. To raise cash, she is holding a disco and magic show at Bradley Park Golf Course on May 21 from 7pm.

Huddersfield 3rd Guide Company , for whom Catherine is a guider , will be holding an elephant drive in May. This is run on the same principle as a beetle drive.

An end of term party will also be held at St Augustines to raise money for Catherine's appeal.

If you would like to help, contact Catherine on 07739724739 or email beamondo@hotmail.com