A BIG-HEARTED couple from Copmanthorpe, York, have decided to do charity work in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka - while they celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

Stuart Watts, 43, and his wife, Dawn, 42, will fly out to Sri Lanka for two weeks in May to help reconstruction and to teach in the country hit by disaster on Boxing Day 2004.

They are also raising money for three charities close to their hearts - the Alzheimer's Association, the Stroke Association, and York Against Cancer.

Stuart, a pensions operations manager, said they had decided to do something for charity after suffering several family shocks last year.

"Dawn's father had a stroke in October 2005, which left him unable to speak and paralysed down the right-hand side," he said.

"That had a massive effect on the family. He didn't recover and has had to go into a home.

"Up until his stroke, he and his wife were very active and it was a big shock last year when they weren't as active when they celebrated their wedding anniversary."

He said Dawn, a practice nurse who works in the community in York, had also lost her uncle to cancer at the end of last year. He said his own mother was suffering with Alzheimer's Disease.

Stuart said: "This project is totally self-funded, so all the money we raise will go to charities at home.

"We wanted to do something special for our anniversary and help others less fortunate than ourselves at the same time. Doing something rewarding seemed the best way to celebrate this."

He said his children, Jonathan, 12, and William, nine, had helped by donating some of their toys for the children in Sri Lanka.

He said he and Dawn had already raised more than £1,000 through direct donations and charity events.

Donations to the couple's cause can be paid into account number 26512425, sort code 07-01-16.


* The couple are hosting a charity evening at the Fox And Hounds pub, in Copmanthorpe, this evening at 7pm. Local band Fireball will be playing a selection of rock classics. There will be a raffle. All are welcome.