A pair of students who are going to walk the Great Wall of China for charity have been nominated for the August Recorder/Rotary Young Citizen Award.

Stephanie Curtis, of Freshwell Avenue, Chadwell Heath, and Rachel White, of Applegarth Drive, Newbury Park, will attempt the feat in October in aid of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The 19-year-olds, both former pupils at Oaks Park High School in Oaks Lane, Newbury Park, came up with the idea while studying at Middlesex University.

And the pair’s fundraising could see them win this month’s Young Citizen Award, sponsored by Exchange Ilford.

Stephanie, who is reading criminology, said: “One day we decided we would do something completely random.

“We had a choice of walking the Great Wall of China and scaling Machu Picchu and we chose the former because you can see it from space and more people know about it.

“We always get really bored and go on long walks so we thought we would give it a go.”

Stephanie said: “We will be walking for eight or nine miles a day up and down which will be tough but we’re really looking forward to it.”

The pair need to find �2,600 each by Friday next week to go on the 10-day trek and they have staged two events recently to help them fundraise.

One was a fun day at Goodmayes Sports and Social Club in Barley Lane which included a DJ, bouncy castle and raffle and raised �650.

The other was an evening at O’Grady’s Irish Bar in High Road, Seven Kings, which saw more than �200 added to their fund.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to children and young people aged between three and 17 who have life-threatening illnesses.

“We chose the foundation because we really like what it does,” Stephanie said.

She added: “It’s a real privilege to be nominated.”

n To make a donation visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/stephandrachwalkchina