TAKING a gap year is usually a life-changing experience, and the effects often far reaching.

Ann Smith, of Marriage Hill Farm, Bidford, can vouch for that - though the gap year which changed her life was not her own but her granddaughter's

Lucy Foster, who used to live in the village, spent a year at KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, working with AIDS orphans at the God's Golden Acre scheme, and when she came home inspired the rest of her family to support the charity.

As a result, its UK headquarters is now based at her grandmother's Bidford home.

"When Lucy came home she said that Heather, who runs God's Golden Acre, needed somewhere to stay when she visited England, and would I mind if she stayed here.

"I said no, and now this is her base whenever she comes over here.

"Heather is a wonderful woman - so full of enthusiasm and she has the ability to get people on board because of that.

"All the UK work for the charity was done by a couple of volunteers, but it wasn't very co-ordinated. I was ready for retirement and looking forward to a quieter life, but gradually got drawn into the work and now it's taken over my life."

Ann's involvement grew more after her first visit to God's Golden Acre, and she talks with passion about the adults and children she has met there and on trips to the beach and countryside.

The charity is 12 years old, and was set up by Heather after a visit to Uganda in 1993.

One young boy, in the last hours of his life, touched her heart and she vowed from that day on she would help every child in need who crossed her path.

And she has.

At the sanctuary hundreds of children are cared for and educated and teams of volunteers go out into the country distributing food to families in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

Supporters in England sponsor children and whole families with regular monthly gifts, which provide food and education, and it is possible to visit and get physically involved.

The green acres of Warwickshire may be a long way from KwaZulu-Natal, but it is here that a vital support system - sponsorship and other fundraising - enables the real work on the ground to continue, bridging the gap in every sense.

Heather's story has now been told in a book by former Alcester Chronicle reporter Dale le Vack, who was inspired when he met her and her young Zulu choir at a Stratford concert.

It is an inspirational story of a remarkable woman, known to her children as Mawethu (our mother) or Gogo (our gran).

God's Golden Acre is published by Monarch Books and is available from Jubilate Christian bookshop in Stratford, priced £8.99, or alternatively by contacting the charity at info@godsgoldenacre.org.uk

For details on how you can help visit www.godsgoldenacre.org.uk