A DENTAL nurse from Fyfield will be taking on a skydive next month to raise funds for her charity trip to Uganda to offer dental care later this year.

Susie Elliott, who has been working in the sector for eight years and is currently an agency nurse taking shifts across the region, decided to volunteer with charity Dentaid for a two-week trip to the African country in June 2022.

The 33-year-old told the Advertiser: “I love helping others and I wanted to do this trip as I thought it would be an amazing experience.

“There is no dental care [in the area of Uganda we are travelling to], so if someone is in pain, they can’t do anything about it.”

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While in Uganda, Susie will be assisting a dentist in providing care, as well as giving oral health advice to children in schools and helping to train medical professionals in the area to be able to support dental health after the charity team leaves.

Dentaid supports Ugandan dental professionals all year round and its volunteering teams work alongside them to run outreach clinics in schools, churches, prisons, orphanages, schools and remote communities.

To fund her trip, she must raise a total of £2,450 - and she is already half way to her target thanks to a series of fundraiser including a Christmas raffle.

However, on March 25 she will be taking on her biggest task yet - a skydive.

“I feel a bit crazy about doing it, I’m really nervous,” she said. “But I feel so passionate about being able to do this volunteering that I thought this would be a good way to raise money.”

Susie said she wanted to thank everyone who has supported her so far, in particular her former workplace New Street Dental Care in Andover for their generous donation.

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“I am really grateful to everyone. I think my family and friends are getting sick of me asking for money - my brother has donated three times,” she said.

Dentaid is a Hampshire-based charity which was formed in 1996 with one member of staff working from his garage. At first the charity concentrated on refurbishing donated equipment and sending it to charitable dental clinics. But as funding increased, Dentaid started oral health education projects.

For more information, or to donate to Susie’s cause, visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/susie-elliott2.

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