A dedicated volunteer who travelled across the world to help transform the lives of people in a developing country has been nominated for a Young Citizen Award.

Grace Mowatt, of St Lukes Avenue, Ilford, has been put forward for our monthly competition after undertaking her International Citizen Service earlier this year in Nicaragua with the development charity Raleigh International.

The 23-year-old raised more than £800 ahead of the trip and was also supported by a £300 volunteering grant from the Jack Petchey Foundation.

Underprivileged

Nominating Grace, grants officer for the foundation Katie Purcell said: “Grace is deserving of this award as she has gone out of her comfort zone to help a community in an underprivileged part of the world.

“Jack Petchey wants young people to know that in giving, you also receive and the world is a better place for it.

“Grace has shown this first hand in her completion of International Citizen Service and I am sure the experience will help her tremendously in the future.”

Before embarking on the venture, Grace took on a host of challenges to hit her fundraising target.

She organised cake sales, survived on £1 a day for five days and went carol singing.

During the trip to Ojo de Agua, Nicaragua, Grace helped to develop a natural resource management programme to tackle problems with water sanitation, deforestation and waste management.

Grace and her team conducted surveys to discover which issues were harming the community the most.

At the end of the project her group had created 5,000 tree nurseries and built eco-latrines and eco-ovens for each of the 80 families in the community.

Grace also devised an educational programme for younger people in the community which discussed a range of issues including environmental problems, equality, family and schooling.