TWO members of the Chelmsford YMCA are looking to raise £2,000 each to go on a international event in the USA.

Leah Burtenshaw, 20, and Paul Knight, 15, have been invited to represent the YMCA based in Victoria Road at the 2014 YMCA World Alliance Conference.

The week-long event being held at Estes Park, Colorado, will see delegates from across the globe meet to talk about the work done by the association.

Invites have been given to Leah, a YMCA childcare assistant, and youth volunteer Paul to attend the conference alongside Chelmsford youth project manager Craig Gough.

Before they jump on their flight though, both have to raise £2,000 each.

Both are organising a series of fundraising events to stump up the cash for the trip they are excited about.

Paul, who lives in Burnham, said: “This trip will give me some of the tools and knowledge I will need as I would like to be a youth worker in the future.

“I am hoping to study at college and also to do an apprenticeship working for a couple of days a week at the YMCA to also gain valuable experience while I do the course.”

Leah, from Chelmsford, added: “The YMCA will always have a place in my heart because of all the amazing support they have given me and other people throughout Chelmsford.

“I think that this amazing trip will help me to extend my knowledge of helping young people and maybe young carers too around the world and not just in Chelmsford.”

For more information about the upcoming fundraising events, please call 01245 341755.