A MAJOR fundraising effort has been launched to mark the tenth anniversary of a young woman's death in Africa.

West Oxfordshire teenager Cecily Eastwood died aged 19 when her gap year adventure in Zambia ended in a road accident.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have since been raised to help children orphaned by Aids in the central African country through Cecily's Fund, which was set up by her parents.

On Saturday, the beginning of a year-long campaign got under way with a sponsored walk by Scouts and Cubs from Stonesfield, Cecily's home village.

It was also World Aids Day to raise public awareness of the devastation caused by the disease, notably in Third World countries.

Cecily's Fund, which has a dedicated charity office at New Yatt, near Witney, with a full-time manager and fundraising and communication officer, has set itself an ambitious target to bring in more than last year's £500,000 raised for the fund.

The challenge is to enlist volunteers to walk, cycle, run and swim a collective 10,000 miles, the approximate distance from Oxford to Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia.

The money will go directly to benefit orphans by providing school shoes, uniforms, books and exam fees.

The fund also provides assistance for health education and teacher training programmes and currently helps more than 6,000 orphans in Zambia.

Charlotte Johnston, fundraising officer, said: "Although we now have quite a wide outreach, there are many supporters in our area and it was good to see local children getting the campaign under way.

"It's a cause that resonates with people. I've been here only three months but can see that Cecily's Fund strikes a chord with a lot of people.

"Fundraising has gone from being a kitchen table affair to something much bigger and more professional."

The fund was set up by Cecily's mother Alison and her father Basil, who served as a British ambassador.

Cecily attended schools in Stonesfield, Germany, Sudan and Athens.

She embarked on a gap year before planning to go to Cambridge University to read Modern Languages.

In Zambia she was teaching at a private school in the northern city of Kitwe. Cecily was driving a pick-up truck carrying luggage when the vehicle overturned after hitting a deep pothole.

Zambia has one of the highest proportions of orphaned children in Africa, where, at one stage, as many as one in five adults was HIV positive.

Ms Johnston added: "We are appealing to local people to help us achieve our target by organising sponsored events throughout the year with their schools, work or social groups."

To find out more see the website www.cecilysfund.org Donations can also be made online, or by cheque to Cecily's Fund, Unit C5, New Yatt Business Centre, Witney, OX29 6TJ.