We were delighted to welcome Keith Statham to our Community Worship this morning. He gave us a fascinating account of his time spent in The Gambia helping the village of Nyofella set up a school.

Some of the facts were striking - the teachers work from 7.30 until 6.30 every day, with a morning session for half the children in the school and then a second session in the afternoon for the rest. Until the charity provided solar panels for the village three years ago, there was no electricity. Due to a corrupt ex-president, the government have no funds available to pay the teaching staff. During the 8km journey, children have been known to die on the route to school when flash floods in the rainy season produce up to 6 metres of rain in one day. The building of a maternity unit by the charity has lessened infant mortality rates from 3/10 to zero!

Keith was bowled over by your generosity and has taken laptops and outfits for the children away with him to take over to Nyofella in the new year.

We are going to continue this link and will be setting up a reverse advent calendar for your donations of unwanted goods that will make such a difference to the lives of our global neighbours.