A GENEROUS charity worker will be leaving behind the leafy comforts of Marlow to spend a year fighting poverty in Bangladesh.

Sandie Reeves, 40, from Allanson Road, will be travelling out to Duaripara, a town rife with problems on the edge of the capital city of Dhaka.

The people of the town have to deal with issues including overcrowding, poor housing, dirty drinking water, disease, low wages and unemployment. Girls as young as 10 are forced to work in factories making clothes, working long hours for little pay.

Miss Reeves is leaving behind her job as secretary of Foxes Piece school in Newfield Road, Marlow.

She said: "This project is very important to me as I have always been moved by news items on the television or papers about child exploitation.

"Now I have been given the opportunity to do something about it myself."

She will be working for the charity Oasis, which helps to provide education and health care to needy people worldwide.

Miss Reeves will be using her experience from Foxes Piece to set up the office and run administration for the project.

She now has to raise £12,000 for the charity. British Airways has agreed to give her a free flight.

Her church, Marlow Christian Fellowship, held a quiz night on February 9 which raised more than £600. The Duke of Cambridge Pub in Queens Road is hosting a quiz night on Sunday, and proceeds will be donated towards her target.

She said: "I'm just really grateful for the support and the interest that people have in the project."