A caring Mansfield Woodhouse student is appealing for donations to help spread her passion for volunteering and supporting people with mental health issues.

Georgina Walters has gained a five-week placement to work in Sri Lanka next summer, where there is a shortage of qualified mental health professionals.

She said her time in Sri Lanka on the placement with SLV.Global would be challenging, but she hoped her efforts in cognitive stimulation sessions and workshops would benefit children and adolescents with mental health difficulties.

Georgina will also teach English to both children and adults during her time in Sri Lanka.

But she needs to raise £2,500 to fund the trip — and has set up two websites for people to make donations.

Georgina, 20, a first-year psychology student at the University of Leeds after graduating from West Notts College with an A* and two As at A-level, said: “I have always had a passion for volunteering and giving back to my community.

“I have previously offered my help in schools, to others and with the Samaritans as a fully-qualified listening volunteer.

“I would love to expand my volunteering to the other side of the world.”

Georgina is a recovering anorexic and said her positive experience with the NHS in England had also inspired her to want to help people in Sri Lanka, where people with similar conditions do not receive the same support.

“Sri Lanka is so far behind. The lack of sufficient mental health care there has a personal importance to me,” she said.

“I am a recovering anorexic and have suffered with anxiety and depression.

“I was lucky to receive the best support through the NHS for my conditions, but others in Sri Lanka are not so lucky.

“Travelling to Sri Lanka would help to broaden my understanding of psychology and give me skills that I could take back to use in the UK.

“With few psychologists, the primary method of treatment for those with mental health issues in Sri Lanka is drugs not therapy.

“Beds in psychiatric hospitals are scarce and there is a great deficit of formally qualified mental health professionals.

“I want to help improve mental health care in Sri Lanka, but I need support to help me get there. SLV.Global cannot cover the cost of anything — accommodation, meals, transport, travel insurance, flights or visas.

“Any contribution could make a massive difference and help me to get to Sri Lanka to help their mental health care.

“Every penny will make a difference, every pound will take me one step closer to getting there.”

Georgina said she would be staying with a family in Sri Lanka, where there would be no hot water and the regular comforts enjoyed by people in the UK.

She added: “Engaging with patients who have mental health issues can be very beneficial for them.

“Creative activities like art and crafts and playing sports can improve confidence and well-being and help them back into the community.

“I want to put on sessions that can make a difference and give people the opportunity to feel better and healthier.”

Anyone wanting to help Georgina can make a donation at www.gofundme.com/pph6y-mental-health-volunteer-sri-lanka or shop at www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/georginawalters/?q=Georgina%20walters%20Sr&cat=cause-autosuggest where retailers will make a donation.

To watch a video about the appeal go to https://www.facebook.com/georginamfwalters/videos/10214856412502760/