THE family of teenager Amy Ransom who died in a trekking accident in Vietnam have set up a fund in her name to help orphans in the country.

The 17-year-old, who died after falling down a mountain, had worked to improve the life of orphans there and the fund will help to carry on the essential work in her memory.

Her older brother, Sam, came up with the idea of the Amy Ransom Fund which will be used by the orphanages in Vietnam, including an orphanage where the popular teenager and her school friends worked, called the Village of Hope, near the city of Da Nang.

Her father, Derek, said he thought the fund would be a fitting tribute to his daughter's life.

He said: "We were going to give half the money to Save the Children but then Amy's brother suggested we could give donations to the orphans that Amy and some of the other teenagers visited.

"Three groups visited the orphanages to work and they painted the walls with hot air balloons and kites to brighten the place up. They all worked really hard to do it."

News of Amy's death reached the family on the afternoon of July 30. It was the second time the family have faced the heartache of losing a child. Amy's brother Lewis died in an accident in September 1996.

But despite the tragedy hitting the family hard, they decided that it would be a positive step to set up the fund.

Mr Ransom, from Bryants Bottom Road, Hughenden Valley, said Amy and her friends, who were on a trip with Wycombe High School, had worked from 7am to 5pm trying to brighten up the orphanage for the children in the communist-run village.

He said: "Some of the orphanages are very poor. The children are well-looked after in these places and they are happy but they do not have much money.

"We thought we would set up the fund and give some of the money to the orphanages and some to people in Sapa who helped to bring Amy down the mountain."

The funeral will be held at the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden, at 2pm on Monday followed by a private service of committal at Chilterns Crematorium, Amersham.

Family flowers only at Amy's funeral. Donations can be made to 'The Amy Ransom Fund' to help orphans in Vietnam or Scannappeal, c/o Wright Funeral Services, 106 High Street, Great Missenden.