A charity supported by the family of a Stevenage doctor killed in Afghanistan is appealing for help after "an extremely difficult year".

Doctor Karen Woo, who grew up in Stevenage and attended The Barclay School, was fatally shot by Taliban while delivering aid in Afghanistan in 2010.

The Karen Woo Foundation - a grant-giving charity focused on healthcare and education for Afghan women and children - was set up in the 36-year-old’s memory, and in 2020 was incorporated into the Enabled Children’s Initiative – a charity supporting children in Afghanistan with disabilities.

Despite the pandemic, last year ECI opened a school for children with disabilities, and the charity will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.

ECI's founder and director, Lael Mohib, said: "It has been an extremely difficult year, and we didn't know if we would be able to keep operating, but our team have worked really hard and actually been able to expand our programmes.

"We're running six programmes in six regions of Afghanistan, with a team of almost 70 Afghan employees and volunteers - almost half of them women and many of them living with a disability.

"We’ve helped nearly 600 families living in poverty care for their disabled child, provided 3,000 hot meals and over 200 food packages to families in need, provided livelihoods for 200 families with a disability, put 67 children with disabilities in school, housed 30 orphans with disabilities, provided disability awareness sessions to over 5,000 men and women, and helped 22 young people with disabilities gain employable skills and access higher education.

"If you're considering donating to a charitable cause this holiday season, please consider our annual fundraising campaign at gofund.me/da3d9a0b, which will be live till the end of January."