A COLLEGE lecturer is on an international mission to examine the development of social work in a former Eastern bloc country.

Dave Sugden, who lives in Wolsingham, is one of only three people in the UK to be chosen by international development agency Voluntary Services Overseas to spend a year in Bulgaria.

He will be based at the University of Veliko Turnovo where his task will be to build good relations between Bulgaria's universities and the government agencies responsible for social care.

His project will also focus on developing practical training and assessment methods to be used by Bulgarian educationalists.

He said: "My social work practice has always been in the most deprived areas of towns but to move to a country whose standard of living and level of resources are not at all comparable to England is a real challenge.

"However, I'm looking forward to being able to create change and hopefully make a real impact on the way services are delivered out there.

"The process of learning will be two-way and I hope to bring back some of their thinking and experiences to incorporate into our courses at Northumbria."

In Wolsingham, Mr Sugden has been involved in setting up a town twinning scheme with the French community of Poix de Picardie