A GROUP of Venture Scouts and Ranger Guides from Teesside are preparing for the trip of a lifetime to Botswana.

The group, which includes youngsters from Guisborough and Redcar, will start their journey to Botswana on July 13 to take part in Botswana 2001.

This event is part of an ongoing programme to provide international experience to Venture Scouts and Ranger Guides by enabling them to carry out a community aid project in a culture different to their own.

The youngsters will be helping to build a classroom at the Mokolodi Game Reserve on the outskirts of the capital, Gaborone.

The classroom will be a traditional Botswana-style outdoor building for use by children on field study trips.

The youngsters are not expecting a holiday. They will be working up to 10 hours a day for all but three of the 25-day trip and won't have access to the kind of mechanical aids that would be available to them in the UK.

Finance for the project has been raised by the team members and their families, friends and charities.