A PHOTOGRAPHER is taking his prints into schools to highlight the issues surrounding HIV and Aids.

Jeremy Makinson, of Whalley Road, Wilpshire, went to Zimbabwe in November to photograph families who are suffering from the disease, and will be bringing his experiences into the classroom to raise money to help them.

He said: "There are street children dying of Aids every week in Zimbabwe.

"It was an horrendous and terrible experience just to see people dying of Aids. I saw children the same age as my own, whose parents have died of the virus, living in gutters and down drains.

"It was frightening to see people with just two or three days left in them."

Jeremy went to Zimbabwe with St Annes photographer Howard Lipman, backed by Kodak and co-sponsors Zimbabwe Airlines.

They took 400 photographs which will be displayed on stands in supermarkets throughout the UK to raise awareness about the plight of families suffering with Aids and HIV in Africa. Schools are also getting involved by signing up for the Venture Kodak National Portrait Challenge which aims to photograph more than 50,000 families nationally and raise up to £1m for projects in Africa.

The challenge is thought to be the largest simultaneous family photographic shoot to have ever taken place in the world.

Jeremy is one of 40 photographers throughout the UK who are giving their services free to support the challenge.

School children and their families will have the opportunity to sign up for a free millennium family portrait, normally worth at least £100, for a £25 donation.

The £25 will be divided between the school, which will receive £10, and The Ari-el Foundation, a registered British charity, which will receive £15 to be spent on projects in Africa.

For details call the Portrait Challenge Credit Card Booking Line on 0845 30 33 777 (calls charged at local rate).

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