Gambia 2026 fundraiser for Helen Scholes

Next February, I'll be joining a group of our Scouts and Explorers on their expedition to The Gambia. While there, we will be working with the Gunjur Project Association (https://www.gunjurproject.com/), a charity whose mission is to reduce poverty and support sustainable community development in The Gambia by providing access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. We will also be renewing our links with the local Scout groups in the villages of Gunjur and the neighbouring Medina Salaam.

This will be the group's fourth visit volunteering in the Gambia and my third time accompanying them. On previous visits, we've provided laptops and mobile phones to the project, some of which were used to set up an internet training hub for teachers and local business start-ups. We've also provided uniforms for the Scouts, donated clothing, stationary, reading books, musical instruments and educational toys to the Gunjur Project, local schools and the African Oyster Trust. While in the Gambia, our group have undertaken various projects, including building the foundations to a new school classroom, decorating a primary school playground, helping at schools reading, playing and learning with the local children, funding resources for the local women's garden, undertaking community litter picking and beach cleaning as well as working with the local Scouts on a range of activities and experiencing the wonderful culture of the Gambia.

On this visit, we are hoping to redecorate classrooms at a local secondary school and fund replacement of the old electrical wiring as well as fixing school benches as our primary project but there will undoubtedly be much more to do once we're there. The more funds we raise, the more we can achieve while on expedition.

The cover photo above is of Andy and myself plus Isabel and Sam on our last expedition.

Thank you so much for any support you can give.