Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to visit my fundraising page!

I've been following the work of the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust for some time via facebook, keeping up to date on their work through photos and blogs by charity volunteers. GHDT is a small charity whose volunteers work tirelessly in difficult conditions in one of the poorest countries in Africa.

GHDT provides veterinary care, farrier care, dentistry and advice to improve the lives and working conditions of the horses and donkeys in remote regions in the Gambia. 

For the people who live here a horse is a working animal depended on by the whole family. A family who have a horse or donkey can earn substantially more than a family without, so improving the working conditions and maintaining the health of these animals not only provides comfort to the horses and donkeys, but also helps the people work their way out of poverty.

The recent droughts mean that resources, feed, crops and clean water are even more scarce than normal, so working conditions suffer as a result.

As well as providing veterinary and farrier care, the GHDT runs a Donkey Club to teach children basic animal care, school education programs and mobile clinics to reach more rural communities. The GHDT does so much more than the name suggests!

I'm running the Forest of Dean half marathon with some of my best friends from university; our team name is "Sloe Gins", and I'm hoping the promise of a tipple at the finish line will be enough to keep me going. Of course, the more you sponsor then the more motivation I will have as well!

As many of you know, horses are a big part of my life but even if you aren't "horsey" I hope that you can appreciate the fantastic work that this small charity does. Any donation, no matter how small, will be appreciated and will inspire me to keep plodding on as I tick of the miles in March. Thanks everybody!

 Read more on the GHDT here: 

http://www.gambiahorseanddonkey.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/gambiahorseanddonkey?fref=ts