NORTH-EAST student Teba Diatta will be giving her all this weekend when she takes part in the London Marathon to raise money for a school in West Africa.

The University of Sunderland journalism student has been tirelessly raising funds for a school in Senegal after visiting her father's homeland in 2001.

The 23-year-old, who is half-Senegalese, taught at the school in the village of Oussouye during a gap year trip to trace her father's roots.

Ms Diatta was so moved by the poverty in the village that, in 2003, she founded the Running For Life charity to build a library and buy resources for the children at Aline Sitoe Diatta School.

She has received the backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair, David Beckham and Arsenal's Senegalese captain Patrick Vieira, as well as the university and Sunderland and Newcastle football clubs.

Also in 2003, Ms Diatta ran from York Minster to Westminster Abbey, raising £12,000. Tomorrow, the Yorkshire-born student will increase the fund when she competes in the Flora London Marathon.

She said: "I want to provide sufficient funds to build and equip a library for students in Oussouye. I also want every student to have access to an English dictionary. With classes of over 60, resources are hard to come by. Some textbooks are from the 1950s."

Anyone wanting to sponsor Ms Diatta can send a cheque, made payable to Running For Life Appeal, to PO Box 230, York, YO26 5WT or visit www.runningforlife.co.uk