A CARING teenager's African aid mission dream has come true after she smashed a £7,000 fundraising target.

Grace Lynch went running and walking and even created her own burgers to pay for a year working with children in Malawi through the charity Project Trust.

The 17-year-old will spend 12 months working with children and young people in a school or residential care setting.

Grace, a pupil at St Stephen's High School, said: "I am so happy I've reached my target - I cannot believe it.

"I am overwhelmed by people's generosity.

"I thought it would take me a lot longer than this."

Grace works part-time at Robert Alexander Butchers in Princes Street and came up with a recipe for a Malawi-inspired burger with the help of shop owner Drew McKenzie.

They were featured in the Tele and proved hugely popular with customers.

She said: "I raised over £1,000 from the burgers, and so many people also just handed in money at the shop, whether they knew me or not."

Grace has three sisters and a brother and lives in Parker Road with her family and parents Claire and Eddie.

She ran 5k every day during December and also took part in the Virtual Kiltwalk last month which brought in £1,500, bringing her over the line.

Grace also sold sweets at St Stephen's as well as Craigmarloch School, where her mum Claire is a teacher.

Her sponsorship quest has been a real family affair with everyone pitching in to help.

The teenager received a generous donation to cover most of her medical costs from the accident and emergency department at Inverclyde Royal, where Eddie is a nurse.

Grace can now relax over the summer and prepare for the exciting experience ahead.

She said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge and being out of my comfort zone.

"I think it will give me a new perspective on life when I see how people live there."

Grace wants to thank Drew and colleagues at the butchers who continued to make the burgers when she was at school, and the A&E department for their kind donation plus everyone else who supported her.

Any further donations received will go towards medical costs.