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FOR chart-topping boyband McFly, visiting poverty-stricken Uganda for Comic Relief was a far cry from the hectic showbiz life they are used to in the UK.
Nothing could have prepared the group for the scenes of devastation they witnessed at the heart of the Aids pandemic engulfing Africa.
The McFly boys travelled to Uganda's capital Kampala to visit a community project set up by the charity to help those affected by HIV and Aids.
You can watch video clips of Tom, Harry, Dougie and Danny talking about their experiences by clicking the links at the bottom.
Choking back tears, singer Tom Fletcher – who penned this year’s official Red Nose Day single All About You - recalled: “None of us knew what to expect, but it was like nothing we could have imagined.
“We spent four days in a slum, meeting the people who lived there. We met kids and teenagers leading really, really hard lives.
“We visited one of the clinics set up by Comic Relief and I met a young girl who was just 20 - only a year older than me - but she looked so frail, like an old lady."
He added: “She was dying of Aids and the doctors said she would probably die within a couple of days. The situation is desperate, four in 10 children are HIV positive.”
McFly used the trip to shoot the video for their double A-side charity single, All About You/You've Got A Friend, out now.
Bass player Dougie Poynter, 17, said: "We saw the difference Comic Relief is making. It saves lives."
Guitarist Danny Jones, 18, added: "An £80 donation could school, feed and clothe a child for a year."
All About You, is in the shops now. Visit www.rednoseday.com or call 0845 605 8000 to order a fundraising pack.
Watch Comic Relief on BBC1 on Friday from 7pm
You can watch how hundreds of kids flocked round as they played the songs in the slum by clicking the video clips in the link.
The Sun
