A WOMAN who suffers from Crohns disease is set to travel to Kenya in July to complete the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Claire Squires will be working with street children from disadvantaged backgrounds, carrying out educational talks and refurbishment of

A WOMAN who suffers from Crohns disease is set to travel to Kenya in July to complete the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

Claire Squires will be working with street children from disadvantaged backgrounds, carrying out educational talks and refurbishment of classrooms at the Muthurwa Primary School, located in an industrial slum in the country's capital, Nairobi.

She needs to raise at least another £1,000 by the middle of May to pay for the rest of her trip and would like to raise even more to donate proceeds to MAGPAS and The Crohns In Childhood Research Association.

Claire, 21, of Moreton's Close, Whittlesey, said: "Completing this award is so important to me because I have had to overcome many obstacles to get this far and I feel that it is proof that, if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it."

Claire was diagnosed with Crohns disease, which causes inflammation of the digestive tract, when she was 14 years old and started to work towards the award a year later but, until now has struggled to complete the expedition because of regular hospital admissions.

- To sponsor Claire e-mail claireannsquires@aol.com.