Wymondham teen pledges to raise £4,000 for once-in-a-lifetime trip to Borneo

Fifteen-year-old Jessica Olley was told about the trip during a presentation at her school, which highlighted the country and the chance to help the people living there.

First though, Jessica must raise £4,000 needed to take part in the month-long expedition which will include building, trekking and scuba diving.

The Wymondham High pupil intends to take on a Saturday job and hold a series of fundraising events in a bid to secure her dream trip.

And Jessica, who admits to disliking physical activity – although she is involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award at school – said the south-east Asian country would bring her out of her comfort zone.

'It wouldn't occur to me to do this sort of thing and it's completely out of character for me, but I'm 15 and I feel I should be doing something significant' she said.

'My family has been supportive and my friends think it's quite funny.

'When I'm home I spend a lot of time on the computer so this will be different for me.'

The trip, organised through her school with Camps International, will include building homes and schools, trekking through the rainforest and visiting a small remote island for scuba diving.

A group made up of Wymondham High pupils and staff, as well as a Camps International representative, will accompany the pupils on the trip.

'I'm a bit scared but it's a while away yet,' Jessica, who lives with her mum, dad and 13-year-old brother on Folly Road in Wymondham, said.

She added that she hoped to involve the community in her fund-raising efforts, and has until the summer of 2015, when the trip will take place, to raise the funds.

Jessica, who also studies Mandarin and hopes to be a writer when she is older, currently writes stories for her school paper and has had a piece on the Merchant Navy Project published online.

She will be documenting her fund-raising efforts in a quarterly column for the EDP's sister paper the Mercury beginning in January.