A WORK trip to South Africa became a life-changing experience for Ealing woman Tara Ward who was inspired to set up a charity to help schoolchildren in some of the poorest areas of the world.

Tara, 46, of Blondin Avenue, Ealing, set up charity Schools 4 Schools with two work colleagues.

It was officially launched at a celebrity event at Westminster Council House in London on Thursday.

Actress Joanna Lumley has become the patron and was guest of honour at the launch, which was attended by 300 guests, including actor John Challis, known to television viewers as Boycie of Only Fools And Horses.

"It was a fantastic occasion which we hope has raised awareness about Schools 4 Schools," said Tara.

"Our initial work has been with children in South African townships and also with displaced Tibetan children in India.

"We have helped the Tibetan House Trust pay for the education of impoverished Tibetan children and this was how we came into contact with Joanna Lumley, who does a lot of work with the trust. Joanna's support as our patron has been invaluable."

A business trip with company Sold Out Trainers inspired Tara to form the charity.

She explained: "Three years ago we were in Capetown. The poverty we saw while we were there affected us deeply - we weren't the same people we were before.

"In Khayelitsha township 75 per cent of the children were orphans whose parents had died of AIDS. They lived in corrugated iron huts and had nothing to eat. And then we came back to the UK where our children don't think about where the next meal is coming from and take their right to an education for granted. We had to do something to help."

Tara and colleagues Kurt Rowe and Debra Stevens, set up Schools 4 Schools to provide educational material, libraries, teachers, and financial support for disadvantaged children. The charity is also dedicated to raising awareness among children in the UK about their poorer counterparts.

In Khayelitsha, the charity has helped on an even more basic level, setting up Rosie's Kitchen, a subsidised soup kitchen which provides breakfast, lunch and dinner for more than 300 children seven days a week.