A brave Wimbledon Park woman has swapped leafy south-west London for work in the war- torn Central African Republic.

Jade Beakhouse, 28, who works for aid agency Tearfund is now in a country which was recently named as the most dangerous place in the world for aid workers to operate.

Jade said: “CAR is a far-cry from beautiful, leafy Wimbledon Park where I moved from. I particularly miss the 156 bus, walks around the park, Saturday mornings at the local farmers’ market and of course the great sense of community.

“I will never forget the wonderful local events hosted by the residents.”

She added: “Although a quick Google search will tell you that CAR is a challenging place to be, I feel at home here and feel privileged to be part of the Tearfund team, as we work to provide assistance to communities who have been affected by conflict and displacement.”

Jade, who is Tearfund’s Grants and Information Officer, now serves as the key point of contact between the UK and CAR office responsible for reporting to donors and coordinating funding proposals.

Jade grew up mainly in the DRC and Chad and after her university studies spent some time in Uganda and Zambia before joining Tearfund almost two years ago.

She said: “I had a unique childhood of running through rain-forests and driving through the sub-Saharan deserts.

“Africa has always felt like home, although life wasn’t always easy and I experienced first-hand the realities of escaping conflict when civil war came to DRC, then Zaire.

“Through my time living in some of the world’s poorest countries, I knew from a young age that I wanted to work in the humanitarian sector to contribute in some way towards alleviating suffering in some of the world’s toughest places.”

Tearfund is a registered international aid agency based in Teddington and has launched an appeal to give assistance in Central African Republic backed by the UK government which matches all donations this Christmas pound for pound.

To donate go to http://www.tearfund.org/en/ukaidmatchpremier/