A KIND-HEARTED North Berwick woman is raising money for a poverty-stricken village in Cambodia.

Alison Campbell is raising the money to help those in the Takeo region, more than 6,000 miles from her home in East Lothian.

She hopes to raise enough to donate to the Soen family, who will be able to buy a cow to help provide for the village.

Alison, who is 50 next month, believes this will cost between £900 and £1,000 and is encouraging local people to lend their support.

And she explained how a long-term friend saw her get involved with the project.

Alison told the Courier: “My friend Elaine Gale’s brother Stephen spends a lot of time going out to Cambodia and he’s got to know this family really well over the years.

“He has helped them for years, but we wanted to do something that is a bit more sustainable than just giving them money, which is where the idea of a cow came from.

“It is going to be an ongoing process, because once we’ve got the money for the cow they’ll need money in case anything should go wrong, and to provide for it.”

A Facebook page will be set up very shortly, where people are asked to donate whatever they can towards the project.

Alison, a miller at Mungoswells, and Mr Gale are putting aside £1 a day towards the cause, and she told the Courier that any donations would be welcomed.

The fundraising process got under way with a table sale in East Linton last Saturday morning.

That helped Alison gather more than £180.

“I will be doing more table sales – I’m not sure when, though,” she said. “People have been excellent and I’d really like to thank everyone who’s helped out so far.”

Her 16-year-old son James and daughter Jennifer, 25, are also in on the fundraising act.

Alison added: “They’re doing their own things to raise money, which is nice – it’s a family effort.”