A 25-year-old youth theatre director will live off £1 a day before leading a team of young volunteers to Tanzania providing sanitation to villages.

Lorraine Keene, artistic director of Mitcham based theatre company IntegrARTy, will spend 12 weeks in Africa with Raleigh International and the International Citizens Service (ICS).

The voluntary programme involves six British and six Tanzanian volunteers, aged 18 to 25, tackling water sanitation and hygiene issues in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Ms Keene, from Mitcham, said: "I’m really excited to get out there.

"This is a unique opportunity to work alongside people from a different culture who have requested help from young volunteers to fight poverty and make a difference."

In the run-up to the project Ms Keene is undertaking a series of fundraising events including the Live below the Line Challenge on December 13.

The challenge involves budgeting just £1 a day for food, drink and water for one week to replicate the conditions of people around the world that live in poverty.

Ms Keene has already been involved in environmental projects in India and while she has never been to Africa, she said this is the way she wanted to do it.

She said: "I like to give something back and I wanted to help and give back in this way."

The ICS encourages young people to contribute to development projects across Africa, and a further aim is to use the skills they learn abroad to benefit their communities back home in an Action at Home project.

The Government-funded scheme involves integrating volunteers into the Tanzanian community, improving water supply and installing toilet systems.

Team leaders for the fully-funded project go through an intensive training day to learn how to implement the programme.

Ms Keene was drawn to the position of team leader by the challenge and responsibility of the role, having already run community projects in the UK.

Earlier this year, Ms Keene started a community youth theatre in Mitcham which runs weekly sessions for children aged 12 to 16-years-old.

With the New Year approaching Ms Keene is eager to reach her fundraising target of £800. You can support her via the website.