A CHARITY shop manager is going on a fact-finding mission to discover what happens to cash raised in our region.

Dee Benson has worked for Oxfam for almost 14 years, and is manager at the Pickering and Scarborough stores.

She will be travelling to Sri Lanka later this month to see for herself how the charity distributes aid, in a country ravaged by more than 20 years of civil war.

Dee, of Thornton-le-Dale, will visit projects including the building and maintenance of low-cost housing, providing a clean water supply and building safe toilets, as part of the two-week trip.

She said: "The trip is going to be quite strenuous, with some five-hour journeys into country held by the Tamil Tigers.

"We are going to see a women's group dealing with abuse that happened during the war, and also look at how people are learning to come to terms with the aftermath of war.

"People have had to learn how to be a community again."

Cash raised by volunteers in her stores adds up to about £70,000 each year.

Any groups interested in hearing about Dee's trip on her return in December can contact Oxfam's Scarborough branch on 01723 351488.

Updated: 12:37 Tuesday, November 12, 2002