A CHURCH warden is living in a shack this weekend to raise awareness of housing conditions in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Ian Brown, who volunteers for charity Habitat for Humanity, set up home in the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church, in Church Lane, Burford, yesterday and will stay in the makeshift home until Monday.

The shack, which is made out of wood and corrugated metal sheets, is based on the homes of thousands of people living outside Cape Town, in South Africa.

Mr Brown, who will sleep on the dirt floor, has a fire to keep warm by and to cook his meals on.

The 60-year-old, of Burford, said: “I’m not collecting money, I’m just raising awareness of the way people live.

“This September will be the fourth time I have helped to build new homes in Mfuleni, just outside of Cape Town.

“The only way people there can earn money is to get near to Cape Town and then they have to live in a shack.”

Habitat for Humanity, based in Banbury, provides volunteers and raises money to build homes for some of the world’s poorest people.

A couple of volunteers take just five days to build one two-bedroom house, which costs about £10,000.

Mr Brown, a town councillor, said: “It’s such a wonderful cause.

“I am going to freeze but I am going to be brave. Some people have said I am a little bit crazy, but it will be a good experience.

“Most of the people living in shacks have kids and because it is not water-tight, they just cannot keep anything like clothes dry.

“If you don’t have a home then you can’t easily provide for your kids.

“As soon as they have a home they feel so secure. It’s hard for us to imagine – most of us in the West have homes and we take it for granted.”

Habitat for Humanity is an international development agency which works in more than 90 countries around the world.