In 1999 I was asked by Mrs Marion Christmas of the Bentley Scout Group and Councilors Tony Barron and David Kirk of Hampshire County Council to become a Patron of a project to raise funds for a remote school in the Gambia. Soma school lacks the basic facilities that our children take for granted. Currently the 34 staff deliver lessons to 1,450 children in classes of between 50 and 60 children in extremely difficult conditions.
Classrooms are inadequate and there is nowhere for the teachers to prepare lessons.
There is no school kitchen or food store on the site, and toilet facilities are pit latrines. Until recently there was only one water tap. The school lacks electricity. There is still much to be done and I urge you to support this very worthwhile project. I can think of no better way of marking the New Millennium.