AN art student will leave for Africa next week to help in the fight against HIV.

Campbell Patterson has raised the £3,000 he needs for the four-month volunteering trip by painting commissioned portraits.

The 19-year-old, from Durham City, leaves for Malawi on Tuesday as part of a ten-strong Transform team, run by Christian relief charity Tearfund.

Campbell, who completed his A-levels last summer and is now on a gap year, will be working with schools, teaching about HIV and Aids and running camps for children in Malawi's capital city, Lilongwe.

He said: "Hopefully, I will be able to contribute something valuable to the Malawians myself, particularly with the schools work.

"HIV is not as big a killer as malaria, but the social stigma attached to it means that those infected are treated as outcasts.

"Africans are amazing people, and I'm sure the stay will be very enjoyable as well as challenging."

The former Newcastle Royal Grammar School pupil has been working at his old school, creating oil paintings to raise the money for the expedition.

Campbell said: "It was an excellent opportunity to earn money and improve my painting skills. I have been fortunate to have been given all these commissions."