A BIG-HEARTED councillor has visited to a third world village more than 5,000 miles away to help rebuild a school which was destroyed by an earthquake.

Walton town councillor Ann Oxley headed out to the small village of Nagarkot in central Nepal on a two-week expedition to help reconstruct the school which was devastated when earthquakes struck the country in 2015.

The 72-year-old flew out to Thailand to meet up with 50-year-old daughter Heidi Oxley-Whitnell, who works at the United World College, before they both headed off to Nepal.

The councillor was staying in the rural hills and travelled down to the village each day.

“The whole of the school was devastated when we arrived,” she said.

“We walked about an hour every day to get there from where were staying as there were no roads.

“The school takes about 60 pupils but it was really just a little tin hut split up into four classrooms.”

Joined by about 16 other volunteers, Ann made the daily trek to the school, which teaches youngsters from the age of two to aged 11.

Ann, who lives in Victoria Road, Walton, is also a local authority governor for Holland Park Primary School and said the experience really made her think about how lucky students and youngsters are with their school facilities in the UK.

“We did some teaching to help the teachers out and they were so pleased to see us when we got there – we also helped out with the new school building,” she added.

“We took big bags of clothes to help them all out too.

“There was no sanitation there but the children were so pleased to see us.

“It was so cold in the mornings and evenings but the temperatures soared throughout the day.

“It was a really long trip and there was about a six-hour time difference but it was just extremely rewarding.

“Experiences like this make you realise how lucky the children are in this country.

“It was a real eye-opener and we’re hoping to go back next year to see the finished school which is very exciting.”