A PROACTIVE charity supporter is taking part in an 18-month-long fundraising programme which ends with a nine day trek of the Great Wall of China. Julie McCracken, of Capel Lane, Exmouth, is embarking on the fundraiser on behalf of WaterAid, an internati

A PROACTIVE charity supporter is taking part in an 18-month-long fundraising programme which ends with a nine day trek of the Great Wall of China.

Julie McCracken, of Capel Lane, Exmouth, is embarking on the fundraiser on behalf of WaterAid, an international non-governmental organisation whose mission is to improve access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities.

She said: "I have always done a lot of fundraising in the past. I chose WaterAid because not so long ago I sponsored a little boy in India who, unfortunately, died last March through a lack of clean water.

"It was an illness that could have been avoided if he had clean water and sanitation."

Julie, an NHS nurse, added: "I am doing lots of different things in an attempt to raise as much money as I can."

Her fundraising efforts culminate with a nine-day trek of The Great Wall of China when she will be accompanied by her husband, Timothy.

"I would like to raise as much as I can, at least �3,000. It is hard to part people from their cash which is why I'm doing lots of different things," she said.

"At work I'm cooking a lunch once a month and people can donate to eat. I'm also raffling items kindly donated by businesses."

Julie said she was also raffling tickets to a gig for Show of Hands, an award-winning folk band from Topsham, who will be performing at the Exmouth Pavilion on May 16.

If you would like to sponsor Julie, you can call her on: 07969455767