I have just returned from The Gambia on 13/03/2025 which was my third trip in the last 12 months. The trips were in support of The Gambian Schools Trust.

The main purpose of my last trip was centred around Conteh-Kunda Lower Basic school. The school is in a remote area approximately 5 hours drive from the coast, there is no electricity and limited running water from a neighbouring village well.

You can read all about the great work of the Trust https://www.gambianschools.org/ led by Steve & Hilary Lawther, a retired but still hardworking couple who base themselves in The Gambia for six months of the year overseeing all the works undertaken by the charity. They have recently been awarded the MBE for their contribution to education in The Gambia which was well deserved.

For myself I have been actively involved for a few years now in this Yorkshire based charity which was established in 2001. Every year in October a shipping container full of school stuff is shipped out there with a small team of us visiting in February for a couple of weeks to help with building renovations and distribution of goods.

With the help of friends, family, colleagues and professional connections, in 2024 we raised sufficient funds to:

- Replace the severely damaged roof on the school

- Build external pillars to secure the roof to, in an effort to avoid further storm damage to the roof

- Tile the classroom floors and outdoor walkway

- Build a standalone classroom for Early Learning

- Paint the school buildings inside and out

You can see the significant improvements to the school we have made and the brand new classroom standing very proud. The teachers and villagers are very grateful for our work to date.

However more work is needed and the fund raise continues in 2025. We are looking to build sleeping quarters for the teachers and urgent repairs are needed to the two toilet blocks. Due to distances involved and the lack of personal transport, the teachers sleep at Conteh-Kunda Mon- Fri and only return to their own families at the weekend. The teachers presently effectively “bunk” in Conteh-Kunda village houses which is far from ideal.

Every penny raised will be spent in Gambia, no expenses/salaries are paid by the charity to the Trustees or volunteers. We are a bunch of volunteers doing our best to improve education facilities in Gambia. The Charity having built 6 schools out of the ground plus several libraries, extensions and new classroom blocks has a regular team of local tradespeople who are paid direct by the Charity. As Steve & Hilary are based over there for half the year, funds are always tightly controlled which I have seen first-hand.

If you can help us make our target then please donate or even run a fund raiser yourself and join our JustGiving team page and together we can help make Conteh-Kunda a school to be proud of and give these kids the chance of a brighter future😃.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.