TWO students are aiming to raise £3,500 each so they can swap East Lancashire for the Far East for a year.

Michelle Nuttall and Nancy Pickup, both 17-year-old sixth-form students at Haslingden High School, are taking 12 months out of their own education so they can educate others in China.

By coincidence they both found they had clinched places teaching English in Chinese secondary schools after they successfully applied to the charity Project Trust which co-ordinates community projects around the world.

Now Michelle, of Haslingden, and Nancy, who lives in Rawtenstall, are busy raising the £3,500 they each need to take part in the project which starts in August. They have written to local groups and businesses asking for support and friends and family have rallied round, staging various fund-raising events at the school and other local venues.

Blackburn Rovers and Burnley football clubs have both donated items to auction and a Las Vegas theme night will be held at Sunnybank Social Club, Helmshore, on March 31.

"We both applied for places and had to take part in a selection course on the Isle of Coll in Scotland," said Michelle. "It's a coincidence we both got places in China. It's the chance of a lifetime. It will be an experience we'd probably never have otherwise. The Chinese are desperate for English teachers. We're both really looking forward to it."

The work will involve teaching in secondary schools as well as organising other English courses and language clubs.

Michelle will work in Guangdong, just over the Chinese border from Hong Kong, while Nancy will be based in Ji'nan, south of Beijing.

Anyone who can help fund the trip can contact Michelle on 01706 223225 or Nancy on 01706 211788.