Two kind-hearted nurses swapped their hospital uniforms for builders' scruffs on a trip to Africa to help poverty stricken children.

Staff nurse Anne Lewis, and colleague, Ann Davies, an auxiliary nurse at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, travelled to Zambia to spend a month helping to build a centre for orphans and extend the children's ward of a local hospital.

Both women, who went to the country under the wing of charity, Hands Around the World, took a month out of their annual leave for the trip and raised money to fund it. They even took their own tools and got involved in all aspects of the building work, from mixing cement to bricklaying.

Mrs Lewis, who works on Rockwood A ward said: "The whole trip was an amazing experience. Having had children of my own, I felt it was time to give something back and couldn't think of a better way than this."

Ann Davies, who works on the same hospital ward, added: "It's something that I have always wanted to do and the experience was fantastic. Everybody that I went with got stuck in and did everything they could to help.

"We even had help from the inmates at the local prison.

"Going on a mission like this makes you realise how lucky you are and it has certainly made me more appreciative for the things I have got."