A ROSEMARKET student optician has spent three weeks volunteering at an understaffed rural school in India.

23-year-old Lucy Swindlehurst, who works as a trainee dispensing optician for Specsavers on Dimond Street, Pembroke Dock, visited the outskirts of Udaipur, in the state of Rajasthan, as part of a voluntary scheme to teach maths, English, health and hygiene to children aged five to seven.

“Volunteering is something that I have always wanted to do and when the opportunity came around for me to go to India to teach children, I knew I had to go for it,” said Lucy.

“Seeing the stark difference between the education systems in India, compared to here in the UK, was quite a shock, but I’m just happy to have spent time helping to teach basic skills to the children I met. I’d love to volunteer again – the team at Specsavers have been so supportive of my trips away.”

The school relies on volunteers like Lucy to help teach children from communities in the surrounding areas.

Lucy took the journey through an organisation called Pod Volunteer, which arranges volunteering opportunities around the world.

She also completed her Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate.

Samantha Evans, manager of Specsavers in Pembroke Dock, said: “Lucy has proven in the past that that she is willing to go the extra mile for charitable causes, so it was no surprise when she told us that she was going to visit a school in India and, in her words, put her summer break to good use, by helping those who need it the most.

“The children wouldn’t have access to education if it wasn’t for the work of volunteers like Lucy, so everyone in store would like to commend her for commitment to charitable work.”

Previously, Lucy has helped to raise money for other charities, completing a skydive and a bungee jump, raising more than £1,000 for Velindre Cancer Centre and Paul Sartori.