A TEAM of 19 volunteers from Malvern is going out to Thailand next month to help local people.

The team will work with the Christian charity Health and Nutritional Development Services (HANDS).

This is the fifth time that a team from Malvern has visited, and this time around it's the biggest yet sent out.

"We will be working with the local communities and especially displaced and vulnerable people and children," said Dave Alban, one of the team.

They are leaving for Thailand on Thursday, February 5, and returning to Malvern on Sunday, February 22.

They will work on two projects which the church has supported over the years. These are supporting the displaced Shan people of Burma, who have been forced to move from their native land into Thailand, and running a hostel for those rescued from slavery and the sex trade in the north of the country.

"We will be going into local community schools and doing sports, arts and crafts, singing programs and teaching English," he said.

"We will also be working on a project in a local community with 30 children to produce a vegetable garden and animal compounds, so that the childern can learn animal husbandry and growing vegetables so that the community can become self-sufficient."

Long-standing team member John Tinnion has a presentation about the work of the group which he is happy to show to any local organisations or social clubs. He can be contacted on 01684 567172.