A LOT of young people head out on gap years to experience far-flung parts of the globe, but for one King's Somborne teacher, her son's experiences will lead her to a whole new world as well.

When Maggie Mackay's son, Jonathan, 20, spoke of the Cambodian's people's generosity towards him and their "desperate" wish to learn English, she was inspired.

Now, Mrs Mackay, 57, will jet out to Asia on July 7 to spend six weeks teaching English to children between the ages of five and 17.

She said: "I thought right, if I don't do this sort of thing now, I'm not going to do it'.

"I went online and the charity came up."

That charity was Schools for Children in Cambodia (SCC), which supports six schools in the South East Asian country.

Mrs Mackay, a lifelong teacher, who has taught at Stanbridge Earls School in Romsey for 14 years, will go to Siem Reap, near the Angkor Wat temples.

"I'm very excited and slightly apprehensive, because I'm not quite sure what sort of teaching I will be doing when I get there," she said.

The mum-of-three and wife to Duncan, said that the children in Cambodia were the product of the Pol Pot regime and had not had fun lives; she hopes to teach English through games when she arrives.

Mrs Mackay added that it would be a big challenge: "I'm concerned because a lot of children there are not literate in their own language of Khmer," she added.

Donations can be made to SCC via www.sccambodia.org or by visiting a branch of HSBC Bank. All funds go directly to the schools the charity runs.