A FORMER teacher from Didcot is spending thousands of pounds of her redundancy pay on a trip to Peru to help children with special needs.

Supply teacher Susan Ward-Davis, 57, will embark on the journey of a lifetime next month when she flies out to a children’s centre in Urubamba, near Cuzco, to help youngsters who have physical disabilities and learning difficulties.

The mum-of-two and grandmother-of-one, from East Street, is using £4,000 of her expected £12,000 redundancy from Didcot Girls’ School to finance her four-month trip, which starts on Tuesday, October 5.

She said: “When I was made redundant earlier this year I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Then I thought I could spend my redundancy pay doing something to help others.

“I think I will probably be the oldest gap year person there.

The centre was opened by Hove-based charity Kiya Survivors in 2002 and works with youngsters aged four to 25 who have special needs or have been abused or abandoned.

Nigel Pedlingham, operations manager for Kiya Survivors, said: “We are thankful for the support of volunteers like Susan.”