[YOUR SITE]
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Sponsor a Child
We currently sponsor over 450 children and young people but not all of them have direct sponsors. We have many waiting for sponsorship and all of them are really needy children,often from single parent families or orphans. We start at nursery level and follow the students through their academic years and always seek to ensure the recipient of a sponsorship is someone who really needs it.
Sponsoring a child is a very easy way to make a huge, positive difference to a child and their family in The Gambia. School costs vary but our packages start from as little as £7 a month which incorporates school fees, 2 sets of uniforms, text books and stationery.
Since our sponsorship programme began, we have sponsored over 600 students and currently have 460 students in the programme. We have 6 students at University studying various subjects, Agriculture & Environment, Accountancy, Mathematics & Economics, Developmental Studies, Political Science and Development, BA Development Studies and Economics and Science. Many of our students go on to complete their education and go on to secure purposeful employment.
If you would like to sponsor a child in one of our schools, you will receive a photograph and information about them along with copies of any reports from school, letters or drawings from the child at least once a year usually around October time.
If you are planning to visit to The Gambia and would like to visit your sponsored child, either at school or at their homes, we are very happy to organise this for you.
Please contact us
for further information, or you can call Julie Russell who is one of our UK based committee members on 07811 270041 for an informal discussion.
Sanyang Clinic
We provide as much as we can to support this major health centre. They are always very busy and appreciate all the support we can offer to help them to treat patients,
If you are able, a financial donation to help us pay for medical staff is extremely valuable and you can do this via our secure PayPal Giving Fund page.
We always welcome collected donations, whether they originate from work, school, amongst friends or from individuals.
Our medical & hygiene supplies wish list consists of:
Plasters, bandages & slings
Pain and anti inflammatory relief in tablet form and child friendly sachets
Toothbrushes & toothpaste
Antiseptic cream & wipes
Antibacterial gel & wipes
Disposable gloves
Blankets & baby items
First Aid kits
Sanitary towels
Wheelchairs and walking aids
Please contact us if you have donations to send and we can advise you of the easiest, most cost effective way of doing this.
Support Women and Girls
Period poverty affects women and girls all over the world and it is important every woman can manage her period with dignity. Access to sanitary products and safe, hygienic spaces in which to use and dispose of sanitary products, is essential for anyone who menstruates. For some women in The Gambia, menstruation can mean their education and well-being is affected.
We support women and girls by providing sanitary towels, kits and the knowledge and materials to make cheap, reusable sanitary pads.
You can help by donating sanitary towels, reusable kits and pain relief.
We support Sanyang Majorettes who enjoy being part of a community group and in doing so, learn a variety of skills to set them up for life. The Majorettes are currently fundraising for uniforms and equipment.
If you'd like to donate to any of these projects, click here to donate via our PayPal Giving Fund
button or contact us and we can also tell you about other projects you might be interested in.
Donate a Salary
Many of the adults who work with us spent many months, even years volunteering, as they could see the positive difference we were making to their local communities. In turn, we quickly realised their value and professionalism and now endeavour to pay, or contribute towards their salaries. This ensures our beneficiaries, whether they are mothers giving birth, orphans or poverty stricken children at school, get the best possible care and support to give them the very best head start in life.
We have had some success but are still looking for sponsors for teachers, nurses, midwives and caseworkers. A reasonable salary for an unqualified teacher is approximately £30.00 per month and for a qualified teacher £40.00 to £50.00
For a one off salary donation, and as a guide, an average monthly salary equivalent to the UK minimum wage is approximately £50.00.
Teacher training costs are approximately £200 per year for nursery level and more for advanced courses.
You can donate towards a salary or teacher training here
and if you have any preferences about which profession you'd like to support, please do let us know.
Sponsor a Fun Day
A day off for our children is a rare treat. For those children who have the opportunity to go to school, they will often undertake household chores before they go, and also upon their return. For some children, the priorities of their families are such that a day off is impossible, let alone a day trip! Some children, despite only living half an hour or so away from the beach, have never seen the sea. With your help, we can create a day off for the children full of fun, games and adventure, enabling them to learn soft skills outside of a classroom environment.
We usually take 30 children, the school staff, GFTG staff and any visitors or donors who are in The Gambia. The cost is approximately £200 a day. We provide for around 60 children and adults including transport, cooked breakfast and lunch.
If you'd like to donate towards a fun day, please click the donate now button or contact us
and we can provide further information.
Rice and Gifts
One of the very best gifts you can send to a family is a bag of rice. In The Gambia, rice is eaten every day here, often with every meal. A 50kg bag of rice costs around £30 and will feed an average family for a whole month!
We can also create a tailored family pack according to the value of any donation you are able to make containing items such as soap and washing powder to treats like coffee, tea, evaporated milk, shower gel etc.
Thanks to your generosity, we distribute many bags of rice and parcels of goodies over Christmas and during Ramadan every year.
If you wish to send your sponsored child and family a parcel from the UK please contact us and we can advise the best and most cost effective way to send.
If you would like to donate a bag of rice to a family in need, a family pack or want to send your best wishes to a family you have met, or come to know during your time in The Gambia, please click the "Donate Here"
button or email us.
Support Building, Repairs & Renovation
If you've read about some of the projects we've worked on and continue to strive towards, you'll know we work hard to create, improve or repair a variety of essential structures. We've been busy with toilets, roofs, water pumps, flooring, classrooms, clinics and a lot more besides! We need to ensure we can continue to create these spaces and make others fit for purpose - to do this, we need your help. You can contribute to our building, repairs and renovation projects by pressing the "donate here" button.
We are often looking for ex office or school furniture, so if you think you may be able to help with this, we'd also love to hear from you. If you like to help us with this, please click one of the "donate here"
buttons.
Donate Football Kits and Stationery
Football is loved by most children and adults in The Gambia and owning a football shirt is something which is treasured. If you have an unwanted football shirt or pair of shorts in child or adult sizes, we can find a good home for them! Can you get together with friends, colleagues or neighbours and collect unwanted football kits?
Because it costs families to send their children to school, we endeavour to support them by supplying our schools with equipment.
Our wish list consists of;
Writing pencils
Pens
Whiteboard marker pens
Permanent markers
Staplers, erasers, rulers, sellotape, blu tac
School bags
Skipping ropes & tennis balls
Small balls
Sports equipment, bibs, whistles
Flash cards
ABC & Number posters (English & Arabic)
We also have a need for things like bleach, chalk, blackboard paint and other items which are heavy and therefore expensive to post. We use a charity supplier website or purchase them locally, so if you'd like to make a financial donation instead of a collection, we'd love to hear from you or you can click any "donate now" button. If you'd like your donation to be spent on something specific, then please do get in touch.
Please contact us before you post any donations so we can advise on the best and most cost effective way of sending donations
Online Shopping & Donate For Free!
Online shopping is a great way to raise money for us just by shopping online as you would ordinarily do and you don’t pay anything extra.
1. Let's say you want to buy a pair of shoes from John Lewis. Instead of going to johnlewis.com directly, you first go to easyfundraising.org.uk.
2 .From the easyfundraising website, click through to John Lewis to make your purchase. This tells John Lewis you came from easyfundraising. The price of the shoes is exactly the same.
3. After you buy your shoes, John Lewis will give you a cash reward that you can turn into a donation for your good cause. easyfundraising collect this and send it on to us at no extra cost.
Sign up to support us via Easyfundraising here
If you'd like to make a general donation, just click here
and this will direct you to our page. There is an easy to follow step by step guide which will lead you through the process of making a donation. Please feel free to leave a message when directed in the comments box, and tell us if anything you specifically want to support or a cause you lean towards in relation to one of our projects. Please don't forget to claim Gift Aid if you can.
