A VIBRANT Hornsey arts club will perform their own play tonight to raise funds to send young people on a volunteering trip to Tanzania.

Kori Arts hopes to take 16 of its young artists to Tanzania on June 27 to work with orphans as part of a special film festival project, but are £5,000 short of their goal.

Using a combination of poetry and theatre, Gang Initiation Clinic tells the story of young men living on housing estates, who turn to gangs for belonging and acceptance but end up destroying their lives.

Kori said it hopes to raise as much as possible from the performance.

Odiri Ighamre, Kori Arts managing director, said: "They are an incredible, inspiring group of young people who are all determined to go. This is a real community effort and we will keep fundraising until the last second."

If successful, the young people will spend a month in the coastal African country, using a variety of art forms to empower the orphans to do their own live performance at Zanzibar International Film Festival.

They will also be thrown out of their comfort zones, as Swahili is the main spoken language.

The trip's aim is to develop a pack for other young people to run similar trips, as well as the benefits the experience will bring for themselves.

Kori also plan to document their adventure by filming and writing.

Group member Anthony Brown, 17, said: "I can't wait to go, I feel so stressed here. I want a new experience teaching children, and them teaching me."

He added: "I want to become a better man. When I come back I can use this experience to be a better person."

Lydia Newman, 22, dramatist and youth worker, was part of the first group of young people to visit Tanzania in 2008.

She said: "I'm really excited to go and work with young people from a different environment. I’m frustrated with the young people over here.

"It’s completely different and it will refresh my energy. It’s going to be amazing."

Even though she has been before, she is confident she will not have the same experience as last time.

Lydia said: "It will give me a greater appreciation for life. The children there are thirsty and are happy to learn.

"I had tears in my eyes when I heard that they were still playing out drama games and that they still remembered them. It just shows that we need to keep inputting."

After the trip the young people will share what they have learnt with their schools, colleges, universities and the wider community.

"This trip will sharpen their leadership skills and will culturally enrich them by learning the politics and history behind Africa," said Ms Ighamre.

To support the young people of Kori Arts, Gang Initiation Clinic will be performed tonight at Moors Cafe, in Crouch End, at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £10.

For more information, contact Odiri Ighamre on 020 8889 2863.