DUDLEY Zoo volunteer Alice Martin will be celebrating Christmas in her new home – half way round the world.

Twenty-three-year-old Alice, from Wolverhampton, who was also a member of our Little Zoo Keeper team, has moved to Japan where she will be teaching English.

She said: “I am really excited about going to Japan. It’s a childhood dream come true.

“I  will be teaching pupils aged three to 14 in a school in Kitakyushu, in the Fukuoka region of Japan. It is a year’s contract and I know it is going to be very different from home but I can’t wait to make a start.”

Alice, who has a BSc in Animal Biology and Conservation from the University of Stafford, plus an MSc in Primate Conservation from Oxford-Brookes University, has worked as a volunteer since 2009.