A TROWBRIDGE woman is campaigning to raise funds for an animal sanctuary in Bolivia after spending a month there last year.

Helen Marchant, 25, helped out at the Inti Wara Yassi sanctuary, looking after big cats, monkeys and birds which had been mistreated as part of her tour of South America.

The refuge has rehabilitated more than 500 animals in the past nine years and park managers must now find around $60,000 to move the animals to a new home in the Bolivian rainforest.

Miss Marchant has vowed to help raise funds for the animal sanctuary and go back there soon.

She said: "They rescue animals from circuses, zoos or ones being kept as pets in appalling conditions and try and rehabilitate them and if possible release them into the wild.

"I was placed with Rico, a 10-month-old ocelot cub. His mother was shot for her fur and he was given as a pet to a small boy.

"I had an amazing few weeks in the rainforest with him, being shown the forest through an ocelot's eyes."

A charity dinner is being held on February 21 in London to raise funds for Inti Wara Yassi.

Tickets cost £22.50 and include a three-course meal, wine, coffee, live music and a chance to meet volunteers from the park.

Anyone interested in buying tickets can contact the Wiltshire Times newsdesk on (01225) 352483.