AN INTREPID Burnley teenager has packed his bags for the trip of a lifetime to help transform the lives of a remote Ugandan community.

Burnley College student Brandon Coppock travelled to the Rwenzori region of the African country earlier this month to spend three weeks on a project to help build a school.

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The Themis apprentice, who works at Speakman Contractors, will be using the skills he has learned on his brickwork apprenticeship to good use during his time on the One Brick at a Time Project.

Brandon joins three Calico apprentices, George Birbeck, 19, from Burnley, Jonathan Hartley, 22, from Blackburn, and Ted Mossop, 18, from Lancaster, on the trip which runs through April .

The group have spent the last six months taking part in fundraising activities such as a sponsored head-shave and Vinyl Records Day at their Croft Street offices, raising £12,500 towards the project. It is the second time Themis apprentices have flown out to help struggling Ugandan communities.

A group of plumbing apprentices travelled to the African country last year to help another village.

Kevin Wilcock, Themis trainer for brickwork, said: “This project is a fantastic opportunity for apprentices to gain knowledge and experience outside of their day-to-day lives.

“It helps them to build on their practical skills and charitable projects like this really broaden the horizons of those who take part.

“Brandon was looking forward to the trip and we’re looking forward to the stories he brings back.”

Last year Stuart Graham, who runs the Calico’s apprentice scheme, went to Uganda on the One Brick at a Time Project.

He said: “The time I spent in Uganda was the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my life.

“Not only is it great training, working outdoors in the extreme heat, but it’s also eye-opening to see the conditions the children live in, and to know that the work you do over there will have such a profound impact on their lives.”

“I’m so very pleased that not only will the apprentices have this incredible opportunity, but the good work, which makes such a difference to a whole community’s wellbeing, will continue.”

Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the southwest by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania.