A CARING New Forest woman has launched her own import business in a bid to help children who have fled Chinese oppression in Tibet.

Vanessa Ashley is selling summer and winter shawls in aid of charity after visiting the northern Indian town of Dharmsala earlier this year.

Dharmsala is home to the Dalai Lama, head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He has lived in India since 1959, when major resistance to the Chinese occupation of his homeland was crushed by the Chinese army.

His sister, Jetsun Pema, runs a charity called Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), which educates orphaned refugees with food, clothing and healthcare.

Vanessa, 46, of Lymington, said: "When I visited Dharmsala I met many people who had made the incredibly difficult journey across the Himalayas to escape from the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

"Children and adults arrive every day, having spent three weeks walking through waist-deep snow and enduring unimaginable hardships.

"When I got home I decided to help. I'd brought some shawls back with me and used these as samples to see if there was any interest in local shops. There was so much demand that I've set up a fledgling import business.

"One of the main organisations I'm dealing with is TCV, which educates children who have escaped from Tibet.

"Their handicraft centre supplies me with hand-woven woollen shawls and all the proceeds go towards their educational fund for Tibetan refugee children."

Vanessa will be selling shawls at a Christmas gift fair at the district council offices in Appletree Court, Lyndhurst tomorrow from 11am to 4pm.