Karate star Lauren Fretwell thought her chances of representing England at next week's World Junior Championships in Tenerife had disappeared when Monarch Airlines folded.

The 17-year-old from Dodworth, who took bronze in non-contact kata at the European Junior Championships earlier this year and is hoping to compete in the 2020 Olympics, lost the £1,500 she had spent on a flight to the Spanish island. Her governing body, the English Karate Federation, covered her losses and those of her team-mates which totalled around £18,000, but Lauren had to find the money for a new flight herself as she is self-funded. Her club Barnsley Karate Centre held a fund-raising event and supplied the money for a new flight which Lauren is due to board on Sunday before competing on Wednesday.

Her coach John Tumman said: "We were going to do the fund-raiser anyway but, when we knew flights had gone, people were just putting double in."For a while we didn't know if the England trip was going to go ahead but we're really glad it is."

Lauren added: "I am so grateful to everyone at the club. It's like a big family and everyone is so supportive. Everything I have done wouldn't have been possible without support like that. I am really excited. I have done a lot of training leading up to this event."

After Tenerife, Lauren will continue the selection process for next year's senior European Championships. She is hoping to make her senior debut for England next year, when the selection process begins for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo which will be the first to include karate.