A STUDENT is preparing for the trip of a lifetime as she heads off on a volunteering expedition to Malawi.

Next month, 18-year-old Katie MacKay, from Guisborough, east Cleveland, will fly to Africa to teach in a primary school for seven months.

A former student of Prior Pursglove College, Katie decided to take a gap year before taking up her place at York University to study music.

She applied for a place on a Gap Activity Project, and after an interview, heard she had been accepted.

But that was when the hard work started, because the teenager has had to raise nearly £3,000 to take part in the trip.

Not one to sit back, Katie took off to Roseberry Topping in October, accompanied by her trumpet and music teacher, to play to walkers and raise money for the trip at the same time.

Students and staff at the college, in Guisborough, are also helping out with a number of fundraising events, including a tombola and music sessions.

And staff in the resource centre have been collecting stationery left behind by students for Katie to take with her, as the school in Malawi is very short of materials.

A friend of the family has also bought 18 recorders, so that Katie can set up a recorder group when she is there.

She said: "I am really looking forward to going. From what I have read and heard, Malawi is a warm, friendly country.

"I'll be living as part of a community with a culture so different to that of my own. My living conditions are going to be very basic, there's no running water or electricity.

"The school I am going to is the Maveya Primary School and is located on the Lujeri tea plantation, which is in the south.

"I'm a bit nervous, because there are more than 900 pupils and there are 60 or so children in a class. I'll be teaching right across the curriculum."