When Sara Preston suffered from anorexia as a teenager little did she know - years later - she would get paid to carry out vital research work on eating disorders in USA.

But since overcoming her illness Miss Preston, now 28, is using her experiences as a springboard to help others with eating conditions - resulting in a scholarship across the pond worth thousands of pounds.

Miss Preston, who works for Norwich-based national charity Beat, will visit USA and Canada to study the research and treatment carried out there after getting money from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

In a fitting coincidence she will follow in the footsteps of Beat founder Nancy Pierce, of Surlingham, who secured a similar scholarship to USA the same year that Miss Preston was born.

'Looking back ten years ago I would never then have thought I'd be getting a scholarship like this,' Miss Preston said.

'It means an awful lot to me.'

She had anorexia between the ages of 13-25, and now works with other young people with the disorder.

Her scholarship in September, worth £7,000, will last six weeks. For more information on Beat call 0300 123 3355 or email info@b-eat.co.uk

Have you got a story about eating disorders? Email nicholas.carding@archant.co.uk