A charity is calling for support as it aims to target the forgotten favelas, or Brazilian slums, at this summer's football World Cup in Brazil.

Brighton-based group Wembley to Soweto, which runs photography courses for disadvantaged youngsters, will travel to South America this June to work with those in the country's poverty-stricken make-shift towns.

The organisers need £20,000 for the initiative and are calling on the public to help raise the total.

Brighton actor and producer David Westhead launched the scheme at the last World Cup in South Africa along with Nelson Mandela's grandson Kweku Mandela and photographer John Cole.

He said: “I have seen it work and I have seen it change lives.

“When we first started this I didn't really know what we were getting into. I thought we could teach a few kids how to use a camera.

“But over the last four years I have seen it grow and we now have kids in South Africa feeding their families with their camera skills. That's how incredible this is, it can change lives.”

The charity aims to send experts across to the favelas of Sao Paulo to train 10 youngsters over the course of a month.

Then, with the world's media focussed on the likes of Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi during the World Cup, the youngsters will capture the spirit and atmosphere of the country.

The images will be sent to PR and news agencies across the world in order to fund further training courses in the favelas.

Former projects in both South Africa and deprived areas of London have resulted in youngsters gaining employment in the photographic industry.

Mr Westhead added: “Not only is this a fantastic initiative but it also started here in Brighton.

“This is something very special and we just need the funding to get it going.

“We have some wonderful prized and experiences for those who invest through our Kickstarter funding campaign and I would urge anyone thinking of donating to go ahead and do it.”

Among the celebrity prizes up for grabs for anyone who donates include tea at BAFTA with Tamzin Outhwaite and Julie Graham, an acting masterclass with David Westhead and double Academy Award Nominee Emily Watson at The British Film Institute and Premier League football tickets.

For more details and to help fund the project visit www.kickstarter.com and search Wembley to Soweto.