Travelling with aid in mind TRAVELLERS with a taste for adventure are being offered the chance to back aid projects around the world.

After a career working as a tour guide for adventure travel companies, Darren Odell, 34, of Bridge Street, Abingdon, has set up his own company, Make a Difference Aid Adventure, which will give 20 per cent of its takings to help projects in the countries concerned. He said: "There was an Aids orphan in Uganda to whom I used to take food and clothes. There had to be a way for me to maintain my interesting lifestyle, take people on holiday, and to help people in those areas."

He added: "The idea is that travellers will experience all the contrasts of the country - one night they may stay in a luxury lodge and travel on a comfortable train, the next in a remote village after a local bus ride. After three years of preparation, my trips will begin in September."

Mr Odell, pictured above with his maps and itineraries, has chosen to support two projects in India - one to rehouse people ousted by tiger conservation work, and the other to run an orphanage. His website is www.madaid.com