Sports leader volunteers to help children in Morrocco

SAFFRON Walden student Becky Taylor will be leaving the comforts of home behind her to spend a week doing voluntary work with underprivileged children in Morocco.

The young trainee sports leader set off for Marrakesh tomorrow (Wednesday June 16) with a group of fellow students from Cambridge Regional College armed with colouring books and sports kit for the children they will be helping.

During her seven days in the country, the 18-year-old will work alongside staff in three orphanages in the city and organise sports activities to help make a difference to the children’s lives.

It’s the first time the college’s sports department has arranged a volunteering trip abroad for the students, who usually do volunteer work closer to home as part of their Sports Leader course.

CRC’s sports leader co-ordinator, Rob Metcalfe, who organised the trip, said the students would learn a lot by volunteering in Morocco.

“This will be very different to doing volunteer work in Cambridge,” he said. “We hope we will make a difference to the children we work with, and it will be good for the students to see how little some people have, and how lucky their own lives are.

“If the visit goes well, we would all like to return next year to train some of the children there as sports leaders.”

The teenagers will stay in a house assigned for volunteers while they are in Marrakesh, experiencing a side to the city not often seen by tourists.