TEN young people have set off for southern Africa on the trip of a lifetime.

The youngsters from the Cockerton area of Darlington flew from Durham-Tees Valley Airport yesterday on the first leg of their journey to Lesotho to look at the impact Aids has had in the African country.

The beginning of the voyage marks the end of almost eight months of fundraising, where the children worked hard to find £23,000 needed to make the visit a reality.

The group, called Raising Awareness in Darlington (Raid), received some of the money though grant-giving bodies, including £10,000 from the Youth Opportunities Fund.

However, they also held a number of charity events, including bag packing, a sponsored netball tournament, a charity auction and a gala diner at Darlington Football Club.

Sue Davidson, from Darlington Borough Council's youth service, said: "They're really excited about this. I saw them off at the airport and I'll be keeping in touch with them while they're over there.

"They've been having regular training sessions for several months and it's gone really well.

"We've been planning this since January."

It is hoped the trip will give the teenagers a greater understanding of world affairs and also give them a chance to share their experiences with young people from a different culture.

On their return, they will tour schools, clubs and community groups to pass on what they learnt from the trip.

Throughout the duration of the ten-day visit, the ten youngsters, who are from the Cockerton, Faverdale and Northgate areas of Darlington, will be shooting video footage of their adventure.

Thanks to an £8,000 grant from Mediabox, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) fund for disadvantaged 13-19 year olds, they will work with Darlington Media Group to edit the raw footage into a 20-minute documentary.

Jan Cossins, the chairwoman of Cockerton East Community Partnership, said: "I'm sure it'll be fantastic for them. It's good that they're being made aware of how HIV has affected a country like Lesotho."