HEALTH director is set to use his mental health knowledge to help needy people in Sri Lanka.

Nicholas McNulty, who has been an NHS director for Redbridge and Waltham Forest Health Authority for five years, has travelled to Sri Lanka with his family in a bid to improve mental health facilities.

The 36-year-old director will work for an organisation called Nivanah as a programme administrator, where he will develop a mental health project for the local community.

He said: "I hope to set up a community resource centre to support, educate and raise awareness of mental health issues.

"Sri Lanka has some of the highest suicide rates in the world, problems of alcohol abuse, and in the troubled political situation, lots of internal refugee movement."

Mr McNulty, who left for Sri Lanka last Tuesday, will complete the programme for VSO, an international development charity which works through volunteers.

Funded in 1958, VSO has 2000 volunteers working overseas, using their skills and experience to tackle poverty in 74 of the world's poorest countries.

Mr McNulty hopes his management and health experience will benefit the people in Sri Lanka.

He said: "The mental health services are very underdeveloped and highly stigmatised. Nivanah runs very innovative projects that are exciting because they give more training to community workers, and build infrastructure so that patients can remain in local environments rather than at the enormous hospital in the area.

"I will be supporting further developments in fundraising and introducing management systems."

Mr McNulty has set up home in Sri Lanka with his wife, and his three children who will attend an international school.

"It will be exciting to learn and function in an environment with fewer resources and I want to spend time with my children, who for a short while, will grow up with less of the McDonald's/ video culture."

Anyone else wanting to volunteer for VSO work should be aged between 21 and 68, and must be able to work overseas for two years on a local salary. For more information telephone 8780 7500 or visit website at www.vso.org.uk