A PRESTON mother who has dedicated the last seven years of her life to needy Chinese children is packing her bags to set up a centre for orphans with special needs.

Jacqui Shurr, of Chorley Road, Walton-le-Dale, and husband Jeff adopted baby Abigail when she was nine months old having spent her early months in the Urumqi orphanage in the north west of China.

And now the couple are upping sticks with sons Johnathon, 11, David, nine, and Abigail, now seven, and moving to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.

They are moving there in July to continue the work of their charity, The Good Rock Foundation, which has been running since 1997.

Their purpose is to set up a centre for orphans with special needs who need care beyond the age of 18.

Jacqui, 42, said: "We help children from newborn to 18 and a lot of the healthy children go on to live full lives in the wide world and further their education including some who are training to be accountants, teachers and cooks. But we work a lot with special needs children and they will need somewhere to live.

"We'll set up a group housing building with house parents to enable them to be as independent as possible."

It is hoped the young adults will be able to live in their own apartments on a farm land site suitable to grow crops.

This is the next phase for the foundation which already offers alternatives to institutional care in China, which has a massive orphanage population because of communist goverment limits on family size, including foster care, education, medical services and best quality baby milk.

They currently work with seven orphanages in the north west province of China but hope to extend that to 40.

Jacqui said: "The orphanages offer good care and facilities but we would never want to set one up ourselves.

"You cannot substitute family life no matter how wonderful an orphanage is."

People interested in fundraising for the Good Rock Foundation can call Jacqui on 0845 4500241.