Raising funds for Africa adventure by tucking into tinned tarantula

A Mearns Academy sixth-year pupil is hoping to raise funds for a trip to Africa by tucking in to tinned tarantula.

Corran Duthie Gray will travel to Senegal in August to spend a year teaching English as a volunteer.

Corran has been busy fundraising toward the costs of £6,200 since she was selected by Project Trust last September, but she has come up with an unusual way of raising the rest of her cash.

She has several fundraising events planned, her first being a sponsored “eat a spider” – a zebra tarantula.

Corran said: “I haven’t heard of anyone raising money in this way before, usually sponsored events would be a run or cycle, or a head shave.

“My friend Finn was given this tinned tarantula as a joke present.

“It was ordered from a website that specialises in unusual food.

“It just came up in conversation that maybe I could get people to sponsor me to eat the spider.

“I’m very apprehensive about it. I’m kind of scared of spiders.

“I’m not a fussy eater but I’m not very adventurous normally either.”

Despite her nerves, Corran is quite open-minded about the event.

She added: “There is a whole movement toward sustainable eating.

“As the population grows we will end up having to start to eat insects.”

Corran intends to share the video of her eating the tarantula on Facebook.

Visit uk.virginmoney-giving. com/ corr ans year with project trust to follow her fundraising efforts and to contribute.