A GIRLGUIDE from Saffron Walden has returned from a once in a lifetime journey. Erica Norman, 18, travelled to the Rainbow Centre in Urubamba, a market town in Peru, to help build a football pitch. The Rainbow Centre – in the heart of the Sacred Valley of

A GIRLGUIDE from Saffron Walden has returned from a once in a lifetime journey.

Erica Norman, 18, travelled to the Rainbow Centre in Urubamba, a market town in Peru, to help build a football pitch.

The Rainbow Centre - in the heart of the Sacred Valley of the Incas - is the only school dedicated to special needs children in the valley. The aim of the project was to encourage physical fitness and to help the children integrate with others in the community through sport.

The school officially opened in February 2002 and now has over 40 children attending regularly.

Erica was one of nine participants, all members of Girlguiding Anglia, who raised �2500 to cover the cost of the trip and a donation to Kiya Survivors, a charity established in 1998 to help survivors of the El Ni�o phenomenon which runs the Rainbow Centre.

The trip was an opportunity for the group to develop new skills as well as giving a valuable new resource to the school.

Angela Ellis, who led the trip, said: "Our task included flattening the ground, adding soil where necessary, marking the boundaries, building the goal posts, and also building two seating stands for spectators.

"We were surprised how much we needed to learn about carpentry to build goal posts and seating stands. We were lucky enough to stay with a family in the town and felt very much part of the community."

For more details of how to take part in Girlguiding, contact 0800 1 69 59 01 or visit www.girlguiding.org.uk