|PIC1|Leaving behind the comforts of home, young musician and contender on Rock School, Lil' Chris, took time out last month to witness firsthand the vital education work that World Vision's School Aid is doing in India.

As official School Aid Ambassador, Lil' Chris visited several World Vision projects in Trivandrum and Pune where School Aid is supporting and enabling children from deprived families to gain an education.

During the six-day trip Lil'Chris encountered extreme poverty and deprivation in some of the world's poorest communities, but was also able to see the immense benefits the School Aid programme introduces to these communities.

From simply supplying classrooms with books, teaching materials and equipment to supporting the local teachers, School Aid is changing children's lives and providing them with a way out of poverty.

|PIC2|After returning from his trip, Lil' Chris commented, "Going to India with World Vision's School Aid really opened my eyes to the inequalities in the world. It was a life-changing experience and made me realise just how lucky we all are to live here in the UK.

"You see pictures on the TV but nothing can prepare you for the sights, smells and the stories of the children affected by poverty."

School Aid is a twelve-month educational and fundraising campaign that focuses on raising children's awareness of global poverty issues, the lack of access to education in developing countries, and their responsibility as global citizens to help make a change.

"I'm really proud to be working with World Vision on School Aid, as I have now seen for myself that this programme transforms the lives of these children and in turn benefits the whole community and the best thing about School Aid is that it's kids helping other kids."

Find out more about School Aid at www.schoolaid.tv