A RYEDALE businesswoman is heading out on her third trip to help the great apes in Borneo.

Lynn Hempsall, who runs the Helmsley Traditional Sweet Shop, had never travelled alone or outside Europe when she decided to do her first self-funded trip to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo in June 2015.

Last week Lynn headed out to Uganda to volunteer at a schools and conservation project for three weeks.

The great apes are dramatically depleting in numbers and will likely become extinct in the next 20 years due to the logging and deforestation of their habitat.

Volunteering in the Kisoro area, Lynn will go into schools with the team and help the children understand about conservation and why they need to protect the habitat of the mountain gorillas.

Lynn will also be taking letters from pupils at Helmsley Primary School. It is hoped she might be able to twin the schools, so they can keep in touch and learn about life in a different country.

Lynn said: “I feel so excited so to be heading back to Uganda. When I first signed up to go to Borneo three years ago, I didn’t know if I was mad. But it has always been my dream to see great apes in the wild – and when you really let yourself understand that in 20 years there may be none left, I felt I had to do something, even if it took me well out of my comfort zone.

“I am hoping to get more groups and schools involved when I come back. It’s great to understand how life is for others and it certainly grounds you when you see how happy people can be with so little.

“Plus, the country is so far ahead of us in terms of conservation – very few pre-packed goods exist and plastic carriers have recently been banned.

“The country itself is beautiful and of course the wildlife is incredible. Last time I saw elephants, hippos, lions and so many more, as well as being in touching distance of a huge male silverback mountain gorilla.”

For more information, go to visithelmsley.co.uk. Lynn hopes to tweet about her travels @LynnSweeties