A 23-YEAR-OLD campaigner from East Huntspill is helping to fight poverty worldwide as a youth ambassador for an international organisation.

Oliver Templeman was chosen from 300 applicants to be one of 26 UK ambassadors for One, a campaigning organisation co-founded by rock star Bono to fight extreme poverty and preventable diseases.

Oliver, who has a master’s degree in mathematics from Durham University, was spurred-on to pursue a role in campaigning when his local MP Ian Liddell Grainger and MEP Graham Watson responded to his emails about issues he felt strongly about.

Oliver said: “I really enjoy being involved with what’s happening in the world which is why I was interested in something like this.

“I wrote to my local MPs and they responded.

“It builds your confidence because they actually bother to answer you and make you feel involved.

Oliver, who has lived in East Huntspill for 12 years, has been writing to his local MEPs to get them to agree to One’s pledge to end world poverty by 2030.

Oliver said: “I have contacted all MEP candidates for the South-West in the hope that they will all sign our pledge and commit to overseas aid and laws cracking down on corruption. I hope to meet with many of them in the next few weeks.”