TERRY King is a woman on a mission.

Shortly after retiring, the 65-year-old from Bradford, who was awarded the OBE for her 20 year career as a top project manager in the Department for Work and Pensions, was determined to use her spare time to make a difference.

Of course, helping to set up and run Chapter 3 Enterprise, the community interest company she and her partners are busy developing to support the needs and aspirations of older people, is a big commitment but with her skills and expertise, Terry feels she has plenty to offer.

Her determination to make a difference prompted her introduction to the Leeds branch of Soroptomist International of which she is currently president, and last year Terry had the opportunity to see first-hand the hardship faced by the female farmers in Nepal.

"I have always wanted to have an adventure. When I left school you leave on the Friday and start work on the Monday, you didn't have gap years or anything and I thought I wanted to start having adventures before it was too late.

"I also wanted to give something back. I felt I have tons and tons of skills and abilities. I am using some of them in my business and I have always been keen to support women so I thought I would go to Nepal and help women be more enterprising, start little businesses," explains Terry.

She wasn't phased by the language barrier or working in unfamiliar territory because Terry's aim during her seven week stay was to make a difference to the lives of the women she was working alongside.

Living with a family in a rural area outside Katmandu, Terry immersed herself in their family life rising early to accompany the women, who were part of an agricultural cooperative, as they make their livelihood from the land.

Since it began five years ago, the agricultural cooperative had swelled in size from 32 people to 800.

Terry explains how volunteers run empowerment classes and offer advice on issues such as hygiene and agriculture.

However, Terry noticed the workshops were delivered by the side of the road.

What the cooperative needed was a place they could call their own; where they could run workshops and sell their surplus produce.

Terry learned they had already bought some land and were eager to build a community centre - so Terry decided she would try and help the women raise the money.

"I spent a lot of my time trying to fundraise, to raise the £70,000 they need to build the building which would have two shops there and they can sell their surplus produce there," says Terry.

She explains how the women plant and nurture their own produce on tiny farms. The warm and wet climate helps the crops to grow quickly. "They grow all sorts of things, even cabbages," says Terry.

Staying with a local family gave Terry an insight into what life was like for the women who, she recalls, would be up at dawn to boil rice for the family before heading out on to the land.

"They are out in the fields all day. They use wooden ploughs, there are no tractors because the fields are so small and they are steep," explains Terry.

The women also use traditional equipment such as wooden hand tools.

"They thresh all the wheat and then sit there sorting the wheat from the chaff," explains Terry, who was impressed by the beauty of the women's workplace - the surroundings and the scenery.

She was also conscious of the heavy loads the women were carrying - around 120 kilos on their backs into Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, to sell in what is already a competitive market.

Having the community facility would mean the women could sell their stock closer to home.

While there, Terry managed to raise around £3,000. Since returning home she has tapped into her own business network, set up a 'Your Caring' page and also secured donations and organisational grants amounting to a staggering £55,000.

The women themselves have already contributed £10,000 and now Terry is keen to raise the rest of the money as soon as possible so they can begin building the community centre in Nepal, preferably in March, before the monsoon season which generally runs between June and August. "I am determined I will raise it. I will not let them down," says Terry.

"This would make a massive difference to the whole village."

For more information call 07757 964511.