My close friend of 40 years David Wright recently returned from The Gambia in early December in his volunteering role for The Gambian Schools Trust, a small charity based in West Yorkshire.

I am a regular supporter of David on his trips to The Gambia and when he told me all about what he was currently up to over there I was keen to get involved in the fundraise.

The recent trip for David once again centred around his current project which is helping and improving Conteh-Kunda Lower Basic school. He had a meeting on site with the Education Dept, planning officials and builders - the rules are somewhat more relaxed than the UK, sketched plans very much acceptable! 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. In fact when he was there in February 2025 (sleeping on site in the classrooms) he had no water at all for 4 days!

The fund raise for Phase 1 of the project which started in spring 2024 was very successful with around £15k in total raised across the team. This allowed David to transform the school from it's previously dilapidated state by:

- Replacing the severely damaged roof on the school and building external pillars to secure the roof to in an effort to avoid further storm damage to the roof

- Tiling the classroom floors and outdoor walkway

- Building a standalone classroom for Early Learning

- Painting the school buildings inside and out

He would now like to finish the job and in this Phase 2 of the fund raise is looking to build sleeping quarters for the 7 teachers at the school. Due to distances involved and the lack of personal transport, the teachers sleep in the local village houses Mon-Fri and only return to their own families at the weekend.

Take a look at the headline picture with a makeshift double bed squeezed into a cramped room where rice is stored - difficult to believe that this bed is shared by 3 teachers. Remember there is no electricity and these rooms can get unbearably hot so you can see what a difference teaching quarters would make to the teachers' well beings.

It is fair to say that every school the charity visits is in need of support, whilst £10k is the target for Phase 2 of the fund raise we would like to push on to Phase 3 and raise additional funds to support another remote school, Kerr Ndongo. The school desperately needs a library and we are keen to get one built and fill it with books for the children!

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.

Every year in October a 40 foot shipping container full of school stuff is shipped out there with a small team of volunteers visiting in February for a couple of weeks to help with building renovations and distribution of goods. David visits in the November prior, looking at the projects to be undertaken. All trips are totally self-funded.

Every penny raised will be spent in Gambia, no expenses/salaries whatsoever are paid by the charity to the Trustees or volunteers. 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 and every penny accounted for.

If you are daring enough you could consider a trip to Gambia in support of the charity or alternatively volunteers October time are always needed for container loading in Bradford, tea and biscuits provided!

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