PROFESSIONAL flautist Sarah Waycott of St Briavels has been asked to help on a charity project in Uganda this summer.
Sarah went on a two month placement last year to teach at Uganda's only music school and has been asked by the Care and Share Foundation charity organisers to accompany them for two weeks this summer.
This year she will be part of a team of 26 people doing more varied activities and may be asked to do more practical building work as well as using her musical skills.
She will be helping to teach young children about HIV/Aids using music to make the difficult topic more accessible.
Sarah won the Margaret Rose Bursary in 2004 and the Chepstow Eisteddfod in 1981 and currently plays with the folk band Be Bop Da Jig.
Sarah said: "For the Ugandan children, attending the music school gives them an opportunity to work as music teachers when they are older.
"For other children it is more of a social thing – a relaxed environment where they can feel good about what they are doing.
"Compared to this year's trip, last year will seem really sheltered. Last year I was teaching classical music in a music school. It was absolutely fantastic to be in that environment. There were some children who could afford the lessons, some international students and some from the slums who had to walk there as they couldn't afford the transport and hav rely on bursaries for tuition fees."
Sarah needs to raise her transport costs of £1,100 before she leaves on July 16.
There will be a fundraising concert in aid of Care and Share and Ruardean Church at St John the Baptist Church, Ruardean on April 29 (7pm). Drybrook and District Ladies Choir and Jemima Phillips will also be performing.
To make a donation to Sarah's transport costs visit http://www.sarahwaycott.com">www.sarahwaycott.com or telephone her on 01594 530118.