AN AMATEUR guitarist is travelling more than 4,000 miles to help a poverty-stricken community.

Jed Powell, 21, from Worthing, is hoping to raise enough money to join a volunteer programme, which will send a group of volunteers to Nigeria to help rural communities.

Jed will depart on October 2 with 13 other volunteers to the Kwara State in rural Nigeria, where up to 80% of the population live below the poverty line and less than 50% have access to clean drinking water.

The International Citizens Service, which Jed applied for, is a government-based scheme, giving people aged from 18 to 25 years old the opportunity to volunteer in a country that needs help.

He said: “The best thing about the scheme is that it identifies what the local community needs. They look to send you to a third-world country, where you try to help out where you can.

“A lot of schemes like this build a school in an area which is torn down after two years so that another team of volunteers can build a new one. This scheme doesn’t do that.”

The government funds 90% of the programme, leaving volunteers to raise the extra 10% needed.

Jed recently quit his job as a chef so that he could focus on fundraising.

He is now running a number of fundraising activities and offering individual guitar lessons to raise the £800 he needs to go to Nigeria.

Jed decided he wanted to help those in need when he considered working abroad.

“I felt it was the best option for me as it meant I could travel whilst helping a community that sorely needs it.

“I felt the experience would beat the money I could earn working abroad so I decided to go with volunteering.”

For anyone interested in guitar lessons or donating, visit justgiving.com/Jed-Powell.