A CHAMPION dancer is getting ready to swap rural East Lothian life for a year helping youngsters in South Africa.

Chloe Hood, 18, is determined to help make a difference after being selected to spend 12 months in the country.

The teenager, who must raise £6,000 to fund the trip, is set to depart next summer. She does not yet know where exactly she will be based.

She said: “I have never been away from my family for more than three weeks.

“It is going to be really challenging, especially being one of seven children and we are so close.

“It will be hard going and so demanding but so rewarding as well.”

The former Dunbar Grammar School pupil found out last week that she had been selected for the trip by The Project Trust.

Chloe, who left secondary school this year and has started a social work course at Edinburgh College, knows she will be involved with underprivileged orphans.

She said: “I’ve been really passionate about South African culture, which is what pulls me the most.

“Over there, there is a huge demand for social work and I wanted to go over there because they need it the most.”

The charity visited Dunbar Grammar School and caught the attention of Chloe.

She added: “I was interested in how other people live, the different cultures and different normality.

“It made me so grateful for what I have got.

“I heard some of the stories of what the volunteers had experienced and I just wanted to help make that difference.”

The teenager, from Innerwick, impressed during a selection course on the Isle of Coll, where the charity is based. She stayed with a host family and gave a presentation on the population of the island.

Since being chosen for the challenge, she has started drawing up fundraisers as she looks to raise the four-figure sum.

Chloe plans to write to various charitable trusts as well as taking to the sky and lacing up her running shoes.

Chloe said: “I have got lots of things lined up. I am organising a sky dive, race night and a St Patrick’s themed night.

“I’m also going to be having a South Africa themed night in the first week of December in the Royal British Legion in Dunbar.

“There are lots of things to set up and I will be doing sponsored cycles and runs.”

The talented dancer, who is a member of the Aine Hay Academy of Irish Dance and has won the Scottish and British champion title for her age group with the World Irish Dance Association, said her family had been supportive.

Donate at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ChloeHood