A St Neots youngster has taken part in a number of different fundraising events in a bid to raise money for the trip of a lifetime in Ecuador.

Jasmine Williams, a student at Longsands Academy, decided to run a half-marathon around Loves Farm on Saturday in the latest leg of her fundraising mission.

The 15-year-old is hoping to take part in a self-funded, four-week expedition to Ecuador and the Galapagos islands in 2020, where she will work on community and environmental projects.

Jasmine said: “In order to raise money, I decided to do a half-marathon around Loves Farm. I had help from my friends, family and local community who came to cheer me on and run some laps around with me. Although I had fallen over the day before and cut my knees and hands and I was feeling rough with a cold, I managed to complete the half-marathon in 2 hours and 49 seconds.”

Jasmine is a member of both running clubs in St Neots - Riverside Runners and Loves Farm Running Club - and members from both clubs supported her.

Jamsine said: “On the day I made £112 and in the weeks beforehand I raised £400 on my Go Fund Me page. This event was very challenging but I did it.”

She will also be taking part in a number of different events in the months ahead through which she hopes to raise enough sponsorship to go on the trip.

The youngster needs to raise £5,000 to go on the trip, where she will help build houses, and create toilet facilities for children.

Jasmine will also help plant trees in the Amazon rain forest to help combat deforestation.

She said: “We hope to collectively plant more than a million new trees. It’s important to protect the wildlife as there are 100,000 animals living there that need the trees to survive for food and shelter, also global warming is a major problem and by reducing the number of trees we cut down will help reduce global warming. A portion the size of Spain is destroyed of the Amazon every year.”

As part of her fundraising efforts, Jasmine is also planning on doing a continuous walk of the south west coast path through Cornwall with her grandmother and dad, in a bid to raise more money.

To sponsor Jasmine or find out more visit: www.gofundme.com/s4n58-ecuador.