Claire Jenkins, who was brought up in Ross and has family living in the town, is CEO of a charity which helps develop busineses in Africa and is calling on her old friends to help the charity win a share of £1million.

The aim of Grow Movement is to transfer the business skills from professionals in nearly 70 countries to the owners of SMEs in Africa so they can grow their businesses and ultimately lift their country out of poverty.

The charity has the chance to pitch to Richard Branson and possibly win a share of £1 million (€1.2 million) in prizes in Virgin Media Business #VOOM 2016, the UK and Ireland’s biggest and most valuable pitch competition.

The charity needs more people to vote for it to ensure it can be among the finalists. Claire is appealing to everyone she knows in Ross to help the charity get the help it needs. For more information, or to vote, visit