TWO former teachers have swapped their life of marking and books to help street children in South America.

Carol Raven, of West Ealing, and Hannah Heard, of Ealing Common, gave up their jobs as primary school teachers last September to help homeless children in Guatemala through charity work.

The duo, who work for charity Toybox, based in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, are currently on a gap year from teaching but have decided not to go back to their full-time jobs since returning from Guatemala last month.

Carol said: "In Guatemala we worked in homes that the charity has set up out there as well as on the streets with the children. Some of them are as young as five years old.

"One of the hardest things while we were out there was seeing children returning back to the streets as that is the life they are used to."

Both Carol and Hannah had to learn Spanish and raise more than £3,000 to fund their trip to Guatemala. They then spent over three months working with the street children by trying to get them off the streets.

Hannah added: "The street teams meet with the children and work on building up their trust as most of them don't trust adults because of the abuse they have suffered."

Now they are back in the UK both Hannah and Carol will work with schools and churches across the country to help raise money for this worthy cause. They will be giving talks on the street children as well as trying to generate fund-raising ideas that people can get involved in.

For information on the Toybox charity or raising funds for the Guatemala street children call Hannah or Carol on 01494 432591