A HORRABRIDGE woman and former Tavistock College student is preparing to take on the experience of a lifetime next year, when she travels to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with the Raleigh International project.

Jillian Campbell, aged 25, was awarded a place on the Raleigh International Youth Development Programme last year.

She has already tackled a rigorous introductory weekend on Dartmoor, which she said was ?sheer hell? and a pre-expedition training week in Cumbria.

Now she is hard at work fundraising for the £500 required to take part in the ten-week expedition to Costa Rica.

She plans to do a sponsored parachute jump at Newquay on November 9, she has approached primary schools in Horrabridge and Tavistock for help with a mufti day and she is also arranging a special raffle.

Jillian got the idea of applying to Raleigh International after a six-week stay in the Glenbourne Unit at Derriford Hospital last year, following severe post natal depression and associated mental illness.

?They knew I was interested in travel and thought it might be the thing for me.

?You?re ten weeks away, helping other people ? I think it?s the kind of experience that will be good for me. I?m not a confident person but being with Raleigh over the last eight months has really built up my confidence.

?You have to trust people, work as a team and trust yourself,? said Jillian.

She said her family and partner are backing her endeavour after initial reservations.

?I?m hoping it will be good for all of us in a way ? if it helps me, in time it?s going to help everybody,? said Jillian.

While in Costa Rica, Jillian will be part of a team helping with a school building project. She will also be undertaking environmental monitoring work in the mountains and working with a group trying to protect the endangered coral reefs.

?I?m going to be doing a scuba diving course before I leave and I?m learning a bit of Spanish to get me by,? said Jillian.

?I think it?s going to be amazing ? I probably won?t be able to stop talking about it for months. A lot of people who?ve done the expedition just come back glowing ? they haven?t anything bad to say about it.?

Raleigh International, formerly Operation Raleigh, is a UK-based charity which aims to develop young people by giving them the opportunity to carry out demanding environmental and community projects on expeditions overseas and in the UK.

The programme aims to develop skills, self esteem and a sense of responsibility, plus motivating people to take up education and employment opportunities and contribute to their communities.

Jillian, who works as a volunteer at the PDSA shop in Plymouth, is due to go to Costa Rica and Nicaragua on February 7 next year.

Anyone who can help Jillian?s fundraising, whether with raffle prizes, sponsorship or equipment for her expedition, should call 077482 21684.