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News Archive July - September 2011

25 September 2011 - Sarah Hayes & Berlin Marathon - Sarah has completed her last preparation run before the Chester Marathon. See Sarah's webpage for more details.

25 September 2011 - Two unexpected donations - totalling £600 from MOFEST & Spalding High School (see news page)

19 September 2011 - Pleasure Singers Concert raises £354 for Pageant (see further details)

13 September 2011 - Sarah Hayes and the Bacchus Marathon - Sarah completed the 26.2 mile hilly course in a few seconds over 5 hours on Sunday 11 September. A good time, seeing it was the first official outing for the bottle costume 'LG'. See Sarah's webpage for more details.

8 September 2011 - Sarah Hayes costume revealed - Sarah will be running the Chester Marathon on 9 October dressed as a bottle of Loweswater Gold. She will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon by a woman dressed as a beer bottle. See an exclusive peek at her costume on her webpage.

6 September 2011 - Sarah Hayes & Toad Challenge - Sarah ran 90 miles from Oxford to Walton-on-Thames along the Thames National Trail over the three days, 2-4 September. She came 14th overall with a total time of 17h 50m 30s.
See her webpage for more information about on this and her next challenge - The Bacchus Marathon.

22 August 2011 - More Goodies for The Gambia - 4 pallets of schools furniture and other lots of other goodies are on their way to The Gambia. (see news item)

22 August 2011 - Sarah Hayes runs the Seaford Marathon. See her webpage for more information.

6 August 2011 - Donation of Microscopes - Tyne Metropolitan College has given Pageant 20 optical microscopes. We plan to use these for more Practical Microscopy Workshops in The Gambia, and then supply them to schools and the teacher training college. (see news item)

1 August 2011 - Sarah Hayes - Adidas 24 Hour Thunder Run - Sarah completed 120km (75 miles) in 24 hours. See her webpage for more information.

27 July 2011 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge - The challenge to drive from the UK to Banjul is on again later this year. There's still time to sign up! (more information)

26 July 2011 - Sponsor Sarah - Sarah Hayes will be running the Chester Marathon in October dressed as a beer bottle, and is also hoping to win a Guinness World Record. She is trying to raise £1500 for Pageant. See her webpage for a link to sponsor her attempt.

26 July 2011 - New Zealand artist sponsors Gambian student - Pageant's Sponsorship Scheme has spanned oceans with New Zealand artist Allie Eagle sponsoring Mola, a University of The Gambia student. (read the story)

24 July 2011 - TV Programme - Did you see the programme 'Holiday Hijack' on Channel 4 at 8 pm on Sunday 24 July? This featured The Gambia and despite the hype, it showed where Pageant goes and what we do. We hope that it will encourage holiday-makers to go out of their hotels to see the 'real' Gambia and meet the delightful people. If you missed it you can see it online by clicking this link, or if you have cable, see it on 'Catch-up TV on Demand'.

23 July 2011 - Sarah Hayes Latest - Sarah ran the 50 Mile Challenge (double marathon) in Kent on 17 July in a time of 12 hours 13 minutes See more details on her webpage,

23 July 2011 - Lauren & Dan's Blog - Lauren Rickwood and Dan Langdon taught in three Gambian schools, as part of their Education Degree Course. They told their story in this blog, and now we have brought this material together into a single website page.

16 July 2011 - Sarah Hayes' Chester Marathon - Sarah will be running the Chester Marathon in October dressed as a beer bottle. She will be sponsored by Cumbrian Legendary Ales,

13 July 2011 - Pageant's Facebook Page - Did you know that Pageant has a page on Facebook? We want our members to use this page, so we needed a 'username' to give us an easy link to the page. In just two days we got our 25 fans (people clicking the 'Like' button), so we can now announce our permanent link:
http://www.facebook.com/pageant.uk

10 July 2011 - Lauren and Dan's blog - Lauren Rickwood and Dan Langdon have just completed three weeks of teaching in three Gambian schools, as part of their Education Degree Course. Lauren has visited The Gambia many times, taking part in Science seminars and other Pageant schemes. They have produced their own blog, with regular posts telling their story. Read all about it by clicking this link.

5 July 2011 - Sarah Hayes' preparations for Chester Marathon - Sarah will be running the Chester Marathon in October, and is preparing by running a whole series of marathons and super-marathons. We have the results of three of these races on her webpage,

News Archive April - June 2011

30 June 2011 - Donate by Text Message - JustTextGiving is a new free service provided by Vodafone through Just Giving. Vodafone are paying JustGiving's costs for 2 years, and there is no charge to send the text no matter what network you use. Simply text 'PAGE26 £10' to 70070 to donate £10 to Pageant. You can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10, up to £30 a month. All of your donation goes to Pageant, and you can add GiftAid by following the instructions in the reply to your text.

22 June 2011 - UK recession affects sponsorship - Difficult economic conditions in the UK have meant that some of Pageant's sponsors can no longer afford to sponsor children in The Gambia. If this is your predicament, please let us know (see our contact page), so that we can arrange a new sponsor as quickly as possible. Our Emergency Sponsorship Fund, which aims to keep such students at school until a new sponsor is found, is now not large enough to meet demand, so support for this is now more vital than ever. Please consider making a donation to this fund (see further details). If you can afford a long term commitment, then please consider sponsoring one of the 47 students, ranging in age from 3 to 23, who are currently seeking sponsorship. Several are in urgent need owing to their current sponsor being unable to continue to support them. See our Sponsorship Enquiry Page for a complete up-to-date list of all students seeking sponsorship.

4 June 2011 - Play Equipment for Gambian Schools - Sue and Phil Taylor have already shipped a container load of outdoor play equipment to a Gambian nursery school, and are now fundraising to cover the costs of sending further containers (read about Sue and Phil's project)

1 June 2011 - Sarah Hayes to run Chester Marathon Sarah has entered the 2011 Chester Marathon, and will be raising sponsorship for Pageant. Not content with running 26 miles, she will run dressed in a unique outfit to earn a place in Guinness World Records. See details on her webpage,

29 May 2011 - Practical Physics Workshops - Pageant ran these workshops over three days in February, and we have only just got round to a detailed report on this website! (see our updated page)

27 May 2011 - Banyaka Lower Basic School - Chestnut Grove School funds windows and floor tiles for the new school library. (read the story)

26 May 2011 - Humanity Nursery School gets help from Pageant (read the story)

26 May 2011 - Update on Modou Lamin - Last year we took the unusual step of appealing for funds for Modou Lamin, who had his deformed leg amputated at the knee. The appeal aimed to raise £700 for the cost of materials and multiple appointments for limb-fitting, physiotherapy etc. Your generosity meant that we more than DOUBLED that amount. Modou Lamin now has medical and physio support assured for several years to come. He is now able to walk unaided and play football. (read Modou Lamin's story)

24 May 2011 - Stolen Goats - Our Goats Page tells the story of how Pageant's generous supporters raised an amazing amount of money to replace seven goats stolen from a poor Gambian family, with enough left over to buy goats for two more poor families.

5 May 2011 - Sarah Hayes to run the Chester Marathon for Pageant - Sarah Hayes has entered the 2011 Chester Marathon, and will be raising sponsorship for Pageant. The race takes place on 9th October, starting and finishing at Chester Racecourse, and passing through stunning Cheshire and North Wales villages and countryside. See Chester Marathon website for more details. Sarah has previously raised money for Pageant by running the Marine Corps 10k race in Washington DC. See details on her webpage, which we will keep updated with more information as we get it.

25 April 2011 - Pageant Team in The Gambia - Pippa, Tina and Frances have returned from their visit to The Gambia, where they helped with some "creative Art and Science lessons" in several schools. They also visited families, and bought some goats! Frances posted daily reports on our News Blog, and we have collected these posts onto this page.

6 April 2011 - New Ethical Gifts - Following the overwhelming response to our stolen goats appeal, we have decided to add a goat to our list of ethical gifts. We have also added Artemisia annua plants, which will allow village communities to grow their own effective remedy against malearia. (see details of our Artemisia Project) One ethical gift has been dropped from our list. We no longer suggest the integrated desk unit, as it is very difficult to organise fabrication of just one of these, and anyone chosing this ethical gift would have to wait until there was sufficient to make a reasonably sized batch. (see our List of Gifts)

4 April 2011 - Stolen Goats - Updated - We reached our original target of £240 within 5 days, so we increased it to £450 so that we could replace all 7 goats and build a secure enclosure. The total now stands at a staggering £818.14 - enough to build a shelter, replace all the goats, with possibly some extras, and also give some goats to another poor family. The appeal will close shortly. Our grateful thanks to all who have contributed, especially staff at ERA Technology, and members of St John's Church, Broadbridge Heath. See this news page for more information.

News Archive January - March 2011

23 March 2011 - World Malaria Day (25 April) marks global efforts to control malaria, working towards zero malaria deaths by 2015. Pageant's small but significant contribution is providing mosquito nets to families, and encouraging villagers to grow artemisia annua plants, which can be used to combat the effects of malaria. Help us fight malaria by buying a mosquito net as an ethical gift (more info) See our complete List of Gifts,
Read more about Defeating Malaria and about our Artemisia Project.

8 March 2011 - Help us replace some stolen goats - A very poor family in The Gambia has had all 7 goats stolen. These goats were the only things of value that they possessed. Pageant has launched an urgent appeal to 4 or 5 of these goats. We are trying to raise £240. Please see this news page for more information and to make a donation.

21 February 2011 - Science in The Gambia - Pageant has organised Workshops for Science Teachers in The Gambia to complement the handing over of £13,000 worth of educational science equipment donated by Technology Supplies Ltd. (more about the Science Workshops)

1 February 2011 - Message from Yankuba - Yankuba Ceesay is Pageant’s assistant agent with special responsibility for the up-country regions on the South Bank such as Jarreng. He sent us a message to be read out at our recent AGM, and we thought we should share it with you. (read Yankuba's message)

30 January 2011 - Microscopy Workshops Article - The current issue 20 of 'infocus' magazine, published by the Royal Microscopical Society, has an article about the Microscopy Workshops held in The Gambia by Pageant in February 2010. (see PDF version of the article)

15 January 2011 - Sainey Darboe's article in 'Today' - Sainey Darboe lives in in Gunjur, in the southern part of The Gambia, and is a law student at the university. He is a regular contributor to the Pageant News Blog. Sainey pays for his books and travel by writing freelance articles for 'Today', one of The Gambia's most important newspapers. We thought you might like to see a sample of his very professional work in the online version (click this link). He comments on the effects of the recent increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs. This highlights the problems currently faced by families who are even more in need of sponsorship to send their children to school.

12 January 2011 - Changes to Gift Aid - Transitional arrangements will end on 6 April 2011 and the amount Pageant gets back for Gift Aided donations will fall. Please help us by bringing forward any donations you intend to make to before this date (more details)

6 January 2011 - Pageant AGM - The ninth AGM will be held at 2:30pm on Sunday 30 January 2011, at Old School, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9DT. All members are most welcome, and should have received an email invitation.

6 January 2011 - New Ethical Gifts Pages - Please have a look at our newly updated gifts pages. The original gifts page now forms an introduction to Pageant's Ethical Gifts Scheme. There is now a complete list of gifts on its own page, with a new layout, which we hope will make it easier for you to choose your ethical gift.

3 January 2011 - Happy New Year from Wandifa - Wandifa Saidykhan, Pageant's agent in The Gambia, wishes to all Pageant members happiness and good health for 2011. (more details)

News Archive October - December 2010

16 December 2010 - Defeating Malaria - The World Health Organisation's World Malaria Report for 2010 reveals encouraging progress in the fight against malaria, but warns that strenuous efforts are required to achieve the target of eliminating malaria in Africa by 2015. In The Gambia, the National Malaria Control Programme has achieved impressive progress in reducing infection and deaths from malaria. (more details)

9 December 2010 - New tiled floors at Sheik Hatab Nursery School - Pageant has paid for new tiled floors throughout the school, at a cost of £1400, with £545 of this donated by Pageant member Andrew Rattray in memory of his brother. (more info & photos)

1 December 2010 - Baby Girl for Bakary and Mariama - Bakary Gitteh, headmaster of Bakalar School, has sent us the wonderful news that his wife Mariama gave birth to a baby girl, named Oumie, last week. Oumie is a sister to Fatoumatta, Nyima and Pippa. I'm sure that all our readers will join in sending their best wishes to the Gitteh family.

27 November 2010 - Virgin Charity Credit Card - Virgin's new credit card allows you to donate your cashback to your chosen charity. (more details)

26 October 2010 - Teaching student raises money for Gunjur nursery Nicola Biles, a teaching student at the University of Cumbria, organised a Moonlit Fancy Dress Sponsored 10 mile Walk, raising almost £500 for Aj Sherimang Nursery School in Gunjur. (more details)

13 October 2010 - Container Items for Jarreng - Some of the contents from the latest container were for the upcountry village of Jarreng. Our agent Yankuba and driver Abdoulie undertook delivery of these items. Yankuba sent us a message, which we think we should share with you all. (see details)

10 October 2010 - £1000 Donation We are pleased to announce a donation of £1000 to Pageant's Emergency Sponsorship Fund. (see details of our Sponsorship Programme) Our grateful thanks to the generous donor, who prefers that his name is not published.

8 October 2010 - Container Unloaded Linda Murgatroyd reports from The Gambia that our container was unloaded on 6 October. Wandifa and his team all worked very hard and all went well. Unfortunately they didn't have time to take photos. The two additional pallets of furniture were not available at the time, so these will be unloaded later.

7 October 2010 - Hilary Emery Nursery School Photos Kira Dalton has sent us some photos showing the children enjoying their splendid new facilities at the Hilary Emery Nursery School. (more details)

1 October 2010 - Container Arrives The Banjul Port Authority has just told us that our latest container has arrived safely. (see details)

1 October 2010 - Bananas We have photos of some banana plants at Sheik Hatab Memorial Nursery School (see photos)

News Archive July - September 2010

11 September 2010 - New Nursery School Opens - JTT Nursery School has reopened in its brand new buildings, and has been renamed the Hilary Emery School. See our new page for more details. We will shortly be bringing you more news and photos.

27 August 2010 - Packing the container - The Southwater school furniture, together with more furniture we have collected over several months, and many items of sports kit and other clothing have been packed into a 3/4 size container, which is now on its way to The Gambia. (more details)

12 August 2010 - Classroom furniture from Southwater Junior School - Pageant has just collected 122 classroom tables and 431 chairs from Southwater Junior School. These will form part of the next container load to be sent to The Gambia, which we will be packing on Friday 27 August. (more details)

1 August 2010 - New leg for Modou Lamin - In May 2010 Pageant launched an appeal to provide Modou Lamin with a new prosthetic leg, with a target of £700. We are pleased to announce that your generosity has exceeded our expectations, with a total of £868 raised. We have closed our appeal for the time being, though we might re-open it as Modou Lamin grows and needs further prosthetic treatment. We continue to use Modou Lamin's page to keep you updated on his progress.

25 July 2010 - Pageant's summer party (more details)

News Archive April - June 2010

11 June - JTT Nursery School - the very last photos as the new buildings are completed. (more details)

14 May 2010 - New Library at Siffoe Senior Seconday School - see photos

12 May 2010 - New kitchen at Sheik Hatab Memorial Nursery School - see photos

10 May 2010 - New leg for Modou Lamin - Pageant launches an appeal to raise £700 to provide Modou Lamin with a prosthetic leg. (more details)

5 May 2010 - JTT Nursery School building progress - Work on the new school is progressing very quickly with all the walls completed up to roof level. The new buildings will almost certainly be ready for use for the new school year this autumn. (more details)

27 April 2010 - Donation of Science Kit - Technology Supplies Ltd has given Pageant a truly amazing £13,000 worth of science kit for Gambian schools (more details)

13 April 2010 - JTT Nursery School - The school hopes to move from its current cramped premises to new buildings on a new site, with funding mainly provided by the The African Oyster Trust. Pageant member Aris Harrison-Price is sponsoring a university course for teachers at this school. (more details)

6 April 2010 - Pencil collection at Westdene Primary School - pupils at this Brighton school have collected 2800 pencils, crayons etc. for children at two schools in The Gambia. (more details)

News Archive January - March 2010

5 March 2010 - Another son for Wandifa - Pageant's main agent, Wandifa Saidykhan, and his wife Mariama are the proud parents of a second son, Ebrima Ian, born on 21 February 2010. (more details)

23 February 2010 - Microscopy Workshops - The Pageant team have nearly completed the workshops, and we have updates from Kathy Groves on our News Blog, with an edited version on this page.

2 February 2010 - Microscopy Workshops - The Pageant team will shortly leave for The Gambia, taking with them virtually all of the equipment for the workshops. (more details)

2 January 2010 - Microscopy Workshops - Two more suppliers Edulab and Northern Geological Supplies are supporting these workshops. (more details)

News Archive October - December 2009

14 December 2009 - Chestnut Grove School in Balham, London has strengthened their connection with Banyaka Lower Basic School in The Gambia. They already have links between the pupils at both schools, and have helped Banyaka LBS in many ways. They have now decided to use Pageant to deliver the results of their regular fundraising for Banyaka LBS, and have given us £500 for the sponsorship of two pupils and a project at the school yet to be decided. (more details)

29 November 2009 - Vivace! Concert in aid of Pageant at Southwater Church on 22 November has raised £191.53 for Pageant. (see details)

28 November 2009 - Sheik Hatab Memorial Nursery School in Gunjur opened a year ago with the help of donated furniture supplied by Pageant. We are now financing renovations to the perimeter wall, and then we plan to provide funding for a new kitchen. (more details on their new webpage)

22 November 2009 - Microscopy Workshops - We are planning to run Microscopy Workshops for teachers in The Gambia so they can pass on practical microscopy skills to their students. Pageant has been awarded £3,000 by the Royal Microscopical Society Vice President’s fund to help set up the first workshop in February 2010. (more details)

15 November 2009 - Pippa and Ian's latest Gambia trip - Pippa has posted details of their recent visit to The Gambia on the Pageant News Blog. We have collected the posts on this web page.

14 November 2009 - Gunjur Loan Scheme - We have started one of our loan schemes at Gunjur, with 6 local ladies recieving a micro-loan to start a small business. (see details)

25 October 2009 - Sarah Hayes has completed the Marine Corps 10k race in Washington DC, with a chip time of 49 mins 18 secs, equalling her personal best. See Sarah's page for more details and pictures of the race, and to make your sponsorship donation.

19 Oct 2009 - Virgin Money Giving - We have a new online donation facility at Virgin Money Giving. Check out our home page on their site. Virgin Money Giving offers free sign-up to fundraisers and then an easy way of creating your own fundraising page. They also charge Pageant much less for processing donations, and get the money to us quickly.

7 Oct 2009 - HopeFirst Foundation's work at Jurunku - This USA based charity is now helping the school and village, and has installed a solar power system at the school. (further details)

4 Oct 2009 - update on Sarah Hayes - Sarah's latest 10km races in preparation for the Marine Corps race were the BUPA Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield, with a time of 53 mins 41 secs, and the Marple 'Trail' run with a time of 49 mins 59 secs, followed by the 5k Manchester Tree-Athlon in 23 mins 43 secs. See Sarah's page for more details.

News Archive July - September 2009

5 Sept 2009 - unloading container in The Gambia - emails from Pageant's team there

25 August 2009 - Golf Day in Wales - Postponed (further details)

23 August 2009 - update on Sarah Hayes - Sarah's recent preparations for the Marine Corps 10k race have included 10k races at Hackney and Warrington, with steadily improving times. See Sarah's sponsorship page.

15 August 2009 - Computer viruses in The Gambia - How are viruses affecting computer users in The Gambia, and what can we do to help. See post on the Pageant News blog.

12 August 2009 - update on Sarah Hayes - Sarah has now raised sponsorship of £860 through Pageant. In preparation for the Marine Corps 10k race on 25 October in Washington DC, she has done hill training in Italy, and has run in 3 10km races in the UK. Help her to raise funds for Barra/Essau Upper Basic School. See Sarah's sponsorship page.

29 July 2009 - Another container for The Gambia - On Tuesday 28 July 2009, a Pageant team packed another container for The Gambia. This contained library shelving units, classroom furniture, school uniforms, sports clothes and equipment, general clothing, books, toys, tools etc. (further details)

21 July 2009 - Horsham Rotary Club Charity Fair - was held in Horsham Park on Sunday 19 July 2009, as part of the District Council Festival. As previously, Pageant had a stall there, selling Gambian craft items and publicising our work in The Gambia. With many other attractions, visitors spent less time at the Charity stands. Even so, we made £113 on the day and had several interested visitors. (further details)

19 July 2009 - Open House for members - Pippa and Ian hosted their annual 'Open House' day for Pageant Members on 12 July 2009. This was attended by over 50 of our enthusiastic members, who enjoyed the sunshine (we were very lucky with the weather!), buffet lunch, drinks, tea and coffee as well as chatting about all things Gambian. See this news item for a full description and photos.

9 July 2009 - Golf Day in Wales - Two Pageant members are organising an open Golf Day at Blackwood Golf Club near Cardiff, on Saturday 12 September. Teams of four are invited to play 18 holes for £40 per team. All proceeds will be split between Pageant and Macmillan Cancer Care. (further details)

7 July 2009 - Sarah Hayes, Marine Corps 10k race - Sarah is running the Marine Corps 10km race in Washington DC on 25 October 2009, raising funds to help Barra/Essau Upper Basic School in The Gambia. For further information, see Sarah's sponsorship page.

6 July 2009 - lots of updates - We have updated quite a number of pages with latest news. Members will already have seen most of this in the Newsletter which was sent out recently:

Kings Kid Academy - completion of lots of building work, Art and English sessions
Bakalarr BCS - completion of new staff accommodation
Brikamedina Nursery School - refurbished classrooms in full use
Sika Women's Village Market - a big success story for Pageant loans

1 July 2009 - Elena raises €200 for Pageant - After a visit to a school in The Gambia, Elena Tassi has raised €200 to say thank-you for their hospitality. Pageant would like to use this to help the school - but first we need identify which school it was! (more details and pictures)

News Archive April - June 2009

9 June 2009 - Microsoft moves the goalposts - Pageant's webmaster complains about Internet Explorer 8.0 and how it doesn't display Pageant's web pages properly. (read more)

24 May 2009 - Nigel Walsh has completed the 2009 Comrades Marathon in South Africa, running the 89.17km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in a time of 11 hours, 35 minutes and 42 seconds. See his webpage for more details.

30 April 2009 - Gambia Trip - The final instalments have now been posted on the Pageant News Blog, and have been added to our news page.

29 April 2009 - Nigel Walsh runs the 2009 Comrades Marathon - On 24 May 2009, Nigel Walsh will tackle the 56-mile Comrades Ultra-Marathon in South Africa for the tenth time. It is the biggest sporting event on the South African calendar, attracting fields of between 10,000 and 15,000 runners to a tough, steeply undulating route between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. He will be raising funds for Pageant's projects in The Gambia, so please sponsor him if you can. (more details)

28 April 2009 - Bumper Bundle for Jarreng - Christmas 2008 produced the largest ever amount donated for mosquito nets through the Pageant Ethical Gift Token scheme. We received enough money to buy 50 family sized nets, which we took to Jarreng for distribution. (more details)

28 April 2009 - Artemisia Project update - A herbal tea made from the leaves of Artemisia annua variety Anamed is an effective ant-malarial treatment. Pageant has so far financed the Gambian National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) to grow and provide Artemisia annua seedlings to two groups of five villages, oversee their continued cultivation and advise on harvesting and preparation of the tea. See update on our Artemisia Project page. If you would like to help raise £2500 to fund the next group of five villages, please send a cheque or you can donate online.

26 April 2009 - The Big Read - Worldwide, there are 774 million illiterate adults, 75 million children out of primary school and 226 million children not in secondary school. Nearly all governments have promised ‘Education for All’ by 2015. The Big Read is taking place across the world, with distribution of a free book of short stories by leading figures, Nobel Peace Prize winners and award winning authors. The Gambia's highlight event will take place at Gambia College, (the national teacher training centre). Stories and testimonies from Gambia’s celebrities and learners are being presented against a backdrop of songs on the theme of adult literacy that have been written by trainee teachers. There are also events taking place in literacy centres across the country. See more on this Gambia Observer news item.

23 April 2009 - Gambia Trip - from the Blog - Pippa, Tina, Frances and Claire have just returned from a two week trip to The Gambia. Frances posted news items on our News Blog during the trip, and both Sainey and Alhassan Darboe added their descriptions of the 'up-river' trip to Jarreng. We are collecting all the posts and pictures together on this news page. and will add to it as more posts appear.

News Archive January - March 2009

28 March 2009 - Updates to Schools Index - We have added to new schools to our Schools Index, and also implemented an alphabetic menu system for finding particular schools. (See our Schools Index)

18 March 2009 - Alhassan Darboe wins essay prize - One the Pageant Blog team in The Gambia, Alhassan Darboe, has won first prize in a 'Black History Month' essay competition organised by the US Embassy in Banjul. He received a number of prizes, including $250 in cash. (more details)

13 March 2009 - djb donate more science equipment - Derek Walker, who runs djb microtech, has generously donated more sets of school science equipment. Pippa took these to several schools in The Gambia during her recent trip. (more details)

20 February 2009 - Abuko Visit - June & Brian visited Abuko Lower Basic School during their Gambian holiday (more details)

19 February 2009 - Gambia Visit - A party of Pageant members is currently visiting The Gambia. Helen Groves has posted a number of reports on their visit on our Pageant News Blog. Keep checking for the latest updates.

5 February 2009 - Nursery Furniture arrives in The Gambia - Linda Murgatroyd tells us that the consignment of nursery furniture and other items has arrived and is being distributed. (details of packing)

1 February 2009 - £350 from Braintree church - Pageant would like to say a big thank-you to the members of Christ Church in Braintree, Essex. They have a tradition of not sending individual Christmas cards to each other, but all signing one large card. They then put the money that would otherwise be spent on cards and postage into a fund to help a chosen charity. This year they chose Pageant, and contributions were linked to items in the nativity story, and to Pageant's ethical gifts scheme: Joseph - Carpentry Tools and Training; Stars - Solar Lanterns.

26 January 2009 - Pageant AGM The seventh Pageant AGM took place on Sunday 25 January 2009. It was attended by 49 members. See this news item for more details. Next year's AGM has been provisionally set for Sunday 24 January 2010.

14 January 2009 - Nursery School Furniture for Gambian Schools - Furniture donated by Shelley Primary School and Littlehaven Infant School is being sent to nursery schools at Campama and Gunjur. (more details)

2 January 2009 - Pageant Annual General Meeting - will be held on Sunday 25 January 2009 at 2.30pm at Old School, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9DT. All members should have received an email invitation.

2 January 2009 - Plymouth Dakar Challenge - For the first time in several years, there are no teams in the challenge raising funds for Pageant. However, we thought you might like news of this year's event. The challenge is now split between four destinations, two of them new.

The Silk Road Challenge group of eight cars left Calais on 9 October 2008, bound for Baku in Azerbaijan.
The Morocco off-road group of twelve teams left the UK on 28 December, following the Plymouth-Banjul route as far as Morocco, then touring around a bit before returning to the UK with their vehicles.
Four groups of vehicles are in the Timbuktu Challenge, leaving the UK from 20 December 2008 to 11 January 2009, using the same route as the Banjul groups into Mauritania, before striking inland and into Mali.
There are three groups in the Banjul Challenge. Group 7 left on 20 December, and are now just about to tackle the Sahara desert. Group 8 left on 26 December, and are currently in Morocco. Group 9 are due to leave on 11 January.

For further information, have a look at the Plymouth Dakar website, though it is a bit short on up-to-date news.

News Archive October - December 2008

15 December 2008 - Trafalgar School Secret Market - Pageant's stall at the 'secret market' held at the school on 11 December raised £170. This will be used to support the link between Trafalgar and Kings Kid Academy in The Gambia. (more details)

26 November 2008 - Vivace! Concert - the acclaimed Sussex choir Vivace! gave another successful concert in Southwater Parish Church. on Sunday 23 November. There was a varied programme, ranging from plainsong to songs from Broadway shows and African music. The concert raised £236 for Pageant after paying all expenses. (more details)

20 November - Update from JTT Nursery School - photos of the progress made at this school over the last year or so. (see details)

14 November - Ethical Gifts for Christmas - We have pleasure in announcing our completely updated Ethical Gifts page - just in time for Christmas. We have a list of Ethical Gifts starting at just £6.50, including items offered in partnership with the Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group. We have finalised the prices, after some large variations in the exchange rate between the UK Pound and the Gambian Dalasi, and have simplified the list by removing items which very few people have purchased. Regretfully, we have dropped the popular 'donkey plus' gift, as the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust only have sufficient resources to look after donkeys already on the scheme. (see the Gifts Page)

1 November 2008 - News from The Gambia - Pippa and Ian are in The Gambia. Our Blog Team there is keeping us in touch with their activities on our News Blog. (see details)

5 October 2008 - New school year starts in The Gambia - With the start of the new school year, we have updated our list of students requiring sponsorship. (see details)

5 October 2008 - Fundraising and Donations Update - Pageant has recently received nearly £6000 raised during fundraising events. (see details)

News Archive July - September 2008

25 September 2008 - Gambia Guide and Promotion Books - Andy Robinson of Affording Gambia VIP has announced the new 2008/2009 'Discovering with Discount' Guide and Promotion Books, which provide an invaluable guide to The Gambia and offer discounts to shops restaurants etc. which can more than cover the cost of the books. Andy has generously offered to make a donation to Pageant when anyone purchases either or both books after visiting our news page.

23 September 2008 - Packing a container - A bunch of Pageant members have just finished packing a container with furniture, educational supplies and other goods. (see details)

2 September 2008 - Open House July 2008 - Pippa and Ian hosted their annual Open House day for Pageant members on Sunday 20 July 2008. (see pictures)

1 September 2008 - Fundraisers Page - Pageant has now registered with MyCharityPage, so anyone planning an exciting challenge or other fundraising event can use this to channel their online sponsorship donations to Pageant. Find out more on our fundraisers page.

25 August 2008 - Donations from two schools - The William Barcroft Junior School in Cleethorpes has donated £216.33, and the Bishopsgate School in Egham has donated £500. (see details)

News Archive April - June 2008

17 June 2008 - Progress in building work - Building work has progressed well in four schools, taking full advantage of the period before the rainy season begins.

Brikamedina is a village on the southern edges of Brikama town. The village started a nursery school as a local initiative, on land donated by the village mosque. Pageant is funding completion of the building work here. (see details)
At Bakalarr, work is progressing on the construction of an accommodation block for school staff. (see details)
Kings Kid Academy are constructing a new classroom block. (see details)
At Siffoe, they have finally completed work on a new block of five classrooms. (see details)

16 June 2008 - Toilets and Textbooks - Nigel Walsh has completed Comrades Ultra-Marathon (56 miles) in South Africa. He finished the gruelling race in 11 hours, 16 minutes and 15 seconds. (see details)

6 June 2008 - Schools Index We have produced an index to Gambian (and UK) schools which Pageant is associated with - both those with major projects, and those which just have sponsored pupils. We have used Google Maps to plot the location of each school. Sometimes this is just the general area, but in many cases in 'satellite' mode you can zoom in to see the actual buildings. Our Schools page contains an enormous amount of information, so there are probably lots of errors. If you spot anything you think we have got wrong, then please let us know.

26 May 2008 - Toilets & Textbooks - Change of Plan - The team will not be able to visit Kings Kid Academy in July to construct the new toilets. Instead local tradesmen will build the toilets.

20 May 2008 - Maps showing Gambian schools - We have created a number of Google Maps which show the exact location of many of the schools which Pageant is associated with in The Gambia:

Make sure you select the 'Satellite' view, and in many cases you can zoom in to see the actual buildings. Please let us know if we have got anything wrong.

1 May 2008 - Ridgemede Junior School now has its own page on the Pageant website. In their most recent fundraising event, they have raised £421 to sponsor children and provide educational equipment at Abuko Lower Basic School.

15 April 2008 - Nigel Walsh will be running in the 56 mile Comrades UltraMarathon in South Africa on 15 June to raise money for the Toilets and Textbooks project. See further details and a link to sponsor him.

10 April 2008 - Mahmoud Achten Nursery School - This is the latest school to be brought under Pageant's umbrella. John Emery and Jane Bull have been helping this school for over a year, and have achieved some great improvements. A lot still needs to be done and the school will need continuing support.

9 April 2008 - Foundation for Disabled People update - hand over of 15 wheelchairs built with the money from the Mayor of Haslemere’s fund.

8 April 2008 - Quotes from sponsored children - Read what our sponsored children have written in letters to Pageant.

5 April 2008 - Furniture shipment from Harwell - UKAEA and NDA joined forces with Pageant to ship surplus furniture to schools in The Gambia.

5 April 2008 - Toilets and Textbooks - Students from Oakham School and Copenhagen International School will be travelling to The Gambia in July to build new toilets for Kings Kid Academy. See our new web page for further information. You can also donate online to help their efforts.

News Archive January - March 2008

20 March 2008 - Chris Robertson's Gambia Diary - Chris has compiled a diary (with pictures) relating his exploits during his visit to The Gambia in February. This complements the blog postings included in Live from The Gambia.

18 March 2008 - Revised Sponsorship Costs - For the first time in seven years, Pageant has had to increase the cost of sponsoring children and young people's education in The Gambia. (See note about revised costs)

16 March 2008 - Five new members for the Blog Team - We are pleased to announce that we now have five new contributors to the Pageant News Blog in The Gambia. Meet the new team members.

13 March 2008 - Breaking news from The Gambia - We are in the process of signing up team members in The Gambia who will be able to report directly on local news relevant to Pageant's activities. Our first new team member, Lamin Jammeh, has made his first post. Check the Pageant News Blog for the latest news from The Gambia.

5 March 2008 - Live from The Gambia Pageant members Frances, Lauren, Rosie and Sarah have spent a large part of their recent trip to the Gambia teaching at KMJ Nursery School and Campama Lower Basic School in Banjul. Following this Frances, Lauren and Rosie, together with Ian, Pippa and Chris, made a trip up-country to visit schools at Bakalarr, Jarreng and Jurunku. Later they visited more schools in Banjul. During this time, Frances has kept us up-to-date with their exploits on the Pageant News Blog. These reports have been copied onto our Live from The Gambia page as a permanent record.

30 January 2008 - Transplant Titans have reached Banjul They left Manchester on Friday morning, 11 January, heading for Portsmouth and the overnight ferry to St Malo. They then drove south via Bordeaux, crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, spending the night at Burgos. From there they drove across Spain to Tarifa, and spent a whole day there. On Tuesday 15 January they took the ferry to Tangier, and drove to Rabat for an overnight stop. Their journey through Morocco has featured overnight stops at Marrakech, and Ouarzazate, and Sidi Ifni. On Saturday 19 January they drove to Laayoune in Western Sahara, and on Sunday headed south to Dakhla. After a day's rest, they headed into Mauritania and the desert, where mobile phones don't work. After three days, they were in touch again and had a rest day at Zebrabar just inside Senagal. On Sunday 27 January, they set off on the final leg of the journey across Senegal and into he Gambia. They caught the early morning ferry across the Gambia River and arrived at the finishing point at 9.15am on Monday 28 January. On Tuesday and Wednesday they visited Kings Kid Academy and other schools, and were given a tour of rural Gambia by Pageant agent Wandifa. (see daily progress reports)

20 January 2008 - The 4Ts adventure is over The teams left the UK on 26 December, travelled by ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Spain and drove through Spain to Tarifa. They crossed over to Morocco by ferry reaching Fez on 29 December, and then via Er-Rachida, reaching Tata on 2 January 2008. They left the Atlas Mountains and headed south along the coast into Western Sahara, camping near Laayoune. On 5 January, they crossed the border into Mauritania, reaching Nouakchott on 6 January and crossed the desert towards Nema. By 10 January they were into Mali and reached Timbuctu on 11th. On 12 January, they visited the Festival of the Desert. On 13th they returned to Timbuctu, where they sold both cars, and set off to tour Dogon country using a hired car and driver, with overnight stops at Mopti, Djenne and Segou. They spent a day relaxing in Bamako, before flying home via Casablanca. So that's the end of another adventure! We have some new photos, and hope to have a full report on their trip soon. (see daily progress reports)

5 January 2008 - Trouble in Mauritania The Lisbon-Dakar Rally has been cancelled due to the shooting of four French tourists in Mauritania. This may affect teams taking part in the Plymouth-Bamako and Plymouth-Banjul Challenges. (see news item)

3 January 2008 - Transplant Titans ready to go on 11 January Final preparations are in hand for departure in a weeks time. We will bring you news of their progress as we get it. (more details)
Also, the Transplant Titans Blog was launched today, giving you an alternative way of keeping up with the latest news.

News Archive October - December 2007

19 December 2007 - Transplant Titans charity event raises £7000 (more details)

16 December 2007 - 4Ts Itinerary (more details)

10 December 2007 - preparations for the 4Ts Adventure going well (more details)

27 November 2007 - Vivace! concert raises £350 for Pageant (more details)

23 November 2007 - Oliver's page In August, 7 year old Welsh schoolboy Oliver collected a large number of pens and pencils for children in The Gambia. Pippa and Ian have now distributed these to the children of Albion Lower Basic School in Banjul. Oliver has also become pen-friends with Abdoulie, a boy at this school. See Oliver's page for the full story and pictures.

21 November 2007 - the 4Ts Adventure Shap Ahoy (well half the team) is off to Mali again. Tim Lovatt and three friends are driving two Toyota Landcruisers to Timbuktu. This is not a fundraising event, but at the end both cars will be sold and the proceeds given to Pageant. (more details)

14 November 2007 - Ridgemede Junior School now have an excellent Worldclass page on their website, which covers their links with Abuko Lower Basic School.

13 November 2007 - News from Campama Pippa and Ian have just returned from their latest visit to The Gambia. They visited Campama Lower Basic School, which Pageant started to help earlier this year. Chairs and desks for the Grade 2 pupils arrived by container, and desk units for Grade 1 pupils have been constructed by a local carpenter. (more details)

12 November 2007 - Ethical Gifts for Christmas Today we are launching our range of Ethical Gifts for Christmas in partnership with the Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group. See our Gifts Page for the full range.

12 November 2007 - Wheelchairs for disabled students £2500 from the Mayor of Haslemere's charity appeal has been donated to the Foundation for Disabled People in The Gambia, so that they can make a batch of their special 'all terrain' wheelchairs for disabled students. (more details)

8 November 2007 - No sweets please! One of the little sponsored girls Pippa saw in October has all her front teeth decayed to stumps due to sweets! The headteacher at her nursery school says it is a real and increasing problem, particularly if a school gets lots of European visitors. If you are visiting The Gambia, please do not take sweets for the children, take toothbrushes and toothpaste instead. If you MUST take sweets, then how about sugar-free chewing gum.

6 November 2007 - Transplant Titans get their car Hany and Titus have acquired a Toyota 4Runner four wheel drive car. We have also started a Sponsors Page to officially thank people and organisations who are helping Transplant Titans. Also remember their charity event on 28 November.

5 November 2007 - Updated sponsorship enquiry page We have reviewed our list of children and young people in The Gambia who are seeking sponsorship to allow them to continue their education. About 60% on our enquiry page are new entries on our list.

25 October 2007 - Our website has successfully moved to new servers You should not notice any changes in its appearance or the way things work. However, if you find pages that don't load, or have any other problems, please contact

15 October 2007 - Transplant Titans charity event - Manchester, 28 November 2007

11 October 2007 - Mellow-Yellow - A third team in the 2008 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge has contacted Pageant with an offer to help carry things to The Gambia. Team Mellow-Yellow, Cillin Whelan & Lindsay Rountree, is in Group 8 which starts on 4 January 2008. They will be starting from Dublin, but passing through England on their way. They will be driving a 1980 Mercedes 280CE.

3 October 2007 - Millennium Health Microscope - latest update, more funding from the USA.

1 October 2007 - Donation of Scientific Equipment - Derek Walker, who runs djb microtech, has made a generous donation of school science equipment worth £400. It includes equipment to study light, magnetism, solar energy and heat. Pippa will be taking this to kit to The Gambia later this month. Pageant would like to say a big thank-you to Derek for this generous gift.

1 October 2007 - News from Bakalarr - Pageant has received an email from Bakary Gitteh, headmaster of Bakalarr School.

News Archive July - September 2007

29 September 2007 - Foundation for Disabled People is a Registered Gambian Charity, which produces wheelchairs specially designed for use on unmade roads in developing countries. They are looking for financial help from UK organisations to continue and expand their work for physically handicapped people in The Gambia. Find out more about the Foundation, and please read their proposal and get in touch with them or us if you can help in any way.

28 September 2007 - Ginger & Turk - We have a second team helping Pageant in the 2008 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge. Team 8928, Ginger & Turk, consists of Michael Shooter and Guven Ozsanlav. They have just acquired a Range Rover in Wales and successfully driven it back to Yorkshire - a good omen for it to make the 4000 miles to the Gambia! They claim not to be good at fundraising, so any money raised for Pageant will be incidental (accidental?) However, they have offered to collect and transport stuff for schools in The Gambia. They already have their own website, and we will soon have a page for them on the Pageant website.

25 September 2007 - Packing Days - On Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September, a group of Pageant members got together to pack items for Gambian schools, ranging from pencils to furniture. (read more)

24 September 2007 - Transplant Titans to help Pageant - We are please to announce that team Transplant Titans, taking part in the 2008 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge, will be fundraising for Pageant. Hany Riad and Titus Augustine are transplant surgeons at Manchester Royal Infirmary, and as well as helping Pageant, they will be raising funds for transplant research projects. Keep up to date with their preparations and progress on their team web page.

17 September 2007 - Kings Kid News Update - Kings Kid Academy has started the new term with an influx of new children, and has recruited four extra teachers. Read the news update from headmaster Jacob Amadi.

30 August 2007 - Oliver's pen collection - Oliver, a 7 year old Welsh schoolboy, has collected over 1,350 pens and pencils for children in The Gambia. (read more)

25 August 2007 - Millennium Health Microscope - The MHM Foundation has just been awarded a £15,000 grant by the East of England Development Agency to assist the development of the Millennium Health Microscope, bringing the total raised so far to nearly £20,000. Read more about the MHM on our web page and on the MHM website.

18 August 2007 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge - Preparations for the 2008 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge are now under way. This will be the eighth time the Challenge has been run. A total of 132 teams have entered to drive the 3,700 miles from the UK to Banjul the capital of The Gambia, while another 128 teams intend to drive 4,100 miles to Bamako the capital of Mali. The first group of teams start for Bamako on 12 October 2007, the first group for Banjul start on 19 December, and the last groups for both places start on 11 January 2008. Teams are on their own, with no formal assistance, and there are rules governing maximum costs of vehicles and preparation - which are generally ignored. Two rules which must be obeyed are: All vehicles must be left hand drive and all vehicles will be auctioned for the benefit of local Gambian Charities. In 2007, the auctions in Banjul raised £109,000. Read more on the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge website.

In past Challenges, a number of teams helped Pageant by raising sponsorship, or by transporting things to Gambian schools and villages. If you are in one of the teams in the 2008 Challenge, and are looking for a good cause to help, then please consider Pageant. If you are thinking of taking essential educational items to The Gambia, then Pageant's agents there can help with getting them to the right place. In return for your help, we can provide you with pages on our website to help with your publicity and fundraising. If you know anyone who is in the 2008 Challenge, then please tell them about Pageant. Please email us for more information. Also have a look at the web pages of teams who helped us in previous challenges:
2006 Shap Ahoy, Super Trooper and seven other teams who helped us.
2007 Ibrakeforcake, Desert Mice & First to the bar and Ice Cold Teams

13 August 2007 - Kemo has left Pageant - We are disappointed to have to report that Kemo Ceesay has left Pageant at very short notice and is no longer in our employ. Wandifa Saidykhan is to be commended for the way he has stepped into the breach in Kemo’s absence and we have had several emails from members returning from The Gambia, saying how well he has looked after them. We are delighted to say that one of our longest-standing members, Linda Murgatroyd, will be working in The Gambia from September. Linda, who has great experience of both the people and the education system of The Gambia, has agreed to oversee Pageant business for us until we can make permanent arrangements.

27 July 2007 - Fundraising news - Pageant has recently been the grateful recipient of fundraising. £1000 was raised by Horsham Rotary Club, £3700 was raised by Haslemere's Mayor, Brian Howard, during his year of office and David Harding, landlord of the Boar's Head in Horsham, raised £127 at an 'Out of Africa' evening.

18 July 2007 - JJT Nursery School, is in Serekunda. Aris Harrison-Price has made helping this school her personal project, enlisting help from many schools, organisations and individuals in and around Leicester. In 2005, this school had over 130 pupils, with just one teacher and a dilapidated classroom. Aris has organised redecoration, arranged the building of toilets, provided educational equipment and funded a new teaching assistant.

News Archive April - June 2007

7 June 2007 - Ethical Gifts in Action - Pageant's Ethical Gift Scheme has now been in operation for about 18 months. Our new page shows some of the people who have received these gifts. It includes the story of a couple, who at their wedding, decided to give Pageant Ethical Gift Tokens to the bridesmaids, best man, parents, ushers etc as 'thank you' gifts. (page now deleted)

30 June 2007 - IceCold fundraising total - Pageant has just received the final cheque from Ice Cold in Bakalarr for £2677.41, bringing the total raised for Bakalarr BCS to £4,803.19.

29 June 2007 - Bandit back home - Bandit reached Falmouth yesterday. We hope to bring you news of their exploits soon. (see Bandit page)

20 June 2007 - Bandit returning - Bandit reached Ponta Delgada last week, and they are now on their way back to Falmouth. (see Bandit page)

12 June 2007 - Bandit reaches the Azores - Our latest report shows that Bandit was just 36 miles from Ponta Delgada in the Azores at 2pm UK time yesterday, at the end of the outward leg of the Azores and Back Ocean Race. We hope for news and possibly some pictures as soon as they get in touch.
(see Bandit page)

8 June 2007 - Abuko LBS Update - Pageant member Jeannette Mars visited the school to meet the children who write letters to her Worldclass children at Ridgemede Junior School and take them a special gift of ‘Mr Majeika’ books. (more details)

6 June 2007 - Bakalarr Inter School Sports update - Bakary Gitteh writes:
"The competition is over and I am happy to inform you that our school boys beat Essau at the final stage and our girls also did well by going up to final stage by winning all their games but have lost the final one. Generally both boys and girls did very well by coming up to the final stage in the tournament. It was a very tough competition. The competition is now over and the other schools went back to their various schools last Sunday night. We are now preparing for our end of year exams."

2 June 2007 - Azores and Back Ocean Race starts today - read more

31 May 2007 - Bakalarr Inter School Sports - Message from Bakalarr headmaster, Bakary Gitteh
"I am pleased to inform you that our school (Bakalarr Basic Cycle School) is again hosting the inter school sport competition which started last Sunday, 27 May and will end next Sunday. It is not our turn to host but because of our facilities that is why we are hosting it again.
This is because of the good job you have done in the school such as toilets, basket and volley ball lawn and the buildings etc. On this note I thank you very much and may God give you good health and long life and a success in your efforts in helping Gambian people. We are proud of you. NB: Seven schools including Bakalarr are there."

31 May 2007 - Open House for Pageant members, 15 July 2007 - see details

25 May 2007 - 200 Children Sponsored - Pageant now has 200 children and young people who are being sponsored to pay for their educational expenses. Read more about our sponsorship scheme and if you are interested in helping a student with the costs of their education, then see our sponsorship enquiry page.

9 May 2007 - Millennium Health Microscope - Pageant has donated £1000 to this project, and will get 10-20 microscopes for distribution in up-country areas of The Gambia. see MHM page

2 May 2007 - Millennium Health Microscope - A new low cost, compact microscope is being developed, which will revolutionise the diagnosis of infectious diseases, such as Malaria, in developing countries. The Millennium Health Microscope Foundation is currently fundraising for Stage 1 of the project. see further details

1 May 2007 - Gambian Mini Market at Ridgemede Junior School

27 April 2007 - Azores and Back Ocean Race - Mike Martin and Fraser Currie have entered this year's AZAB race with Bandit. They have named Pageant as their chosen charity, and are fundraising to provide desk units for Campama Lower Basic School in The Gambia. see further details about Bandit and AZAB

24 April 2007 - Jurunku visit in February 2007. Pippa, Jon Quinnell and others visited this school again, looking at the progress being made in the school gardens, and also at the next project requiring attention - the derelict kitchens. see further details

12 April 2007 - Shap Ahoy T4 Challenge - We now have the diary of their trip to Bamako and Timbuktu, and all the pictures.

4 April 2007 - Tina's art project brings hands-on art to Kings Kid Academy and KMJ Nursery School, creating a jungle and an ocean.

4 April 2007 - Campama Lower basic School - Pageant gets their toilets back in working order, and is raising funds for new desk units.

News Archive January - March 2007

23 March 2007 - Seminars for Gambian science teachers - Joe Brock, Head of Science at Collyer's Sixth Form College in Horsham, has produced a science handbook for teaching Upper Basic Science (roughly GCSE) and Senior Secondary Science (roughly AS level) in The Gambia. Joe's new book contains 73 experiments and he also designed kits containing items that are inexpensive and readily available, at least in UK, with which to conduct these experiments. 40 of these kits were assembled and taken to The Gambia by Joe, some of his students and some Pageant members. He gave a series of five seminars for science teachers, showing them how to use the book and kits for teaching their students.

14 March 2007 - Update on the Pageant Loan Scheme

12 March 2007 - Exhibition of Ousman's paintings opens

7 March 2007 - Pippa's Gambian Trip Diary - a condensed version covering her recent visit to the Gambia.

7 March 2007 - Sarjo's new wheelchair - handicapped student Sarjo Badjie gets a new 'all terrain' wheelchair to cope with Gambia's country roads.

4 March 2007 - New Crab Island Page - Crab Island Upper Basic School is about 5km south of central Banjul, and provides education for children aged 13 to 16. Pageant members Brenda and Keith Farrington have helped to set up a computer lab, woodwork and metalwork rooms, a home economic centre and a technical drawing classroom at this school. Read all about it on the new Crab Island page.

3 March 2007 - Exhibition & Sale of Pictures Pageant is holding an exhibition of paintings in Horsham Library from 10-24 March. The pictures are original paintings in watercolour and gouache on A4 sized art paper by an A-level student, Ousman F Sowe, of Essau Senior Secondary School in The Gambia. Ousman paints pictures based on scenes related to The Gambia and the proceeds of their sale are helping him to continue his education and develop his artistic talents. Ousman's home is close to the village of Kunta Kinteh (of the book 'Roots', by Alex Hailey) and many of his pictures depict aspects of the slave trade of bygone years.

Admittance to the exhibition is free and the paintings will be for sale from the exhibition. The library staff will put the customary red dot on any picture that is sold, but purchasers can arrange collection as soon as they wish, rather than wait until the exhibition ends. We have replacements to fill up any spaces. Very reasonable prices: unmounted picture £10, mounted original picture £12, framed original picture £20. A4 size prints £3.

21 February 2007 - Car Auctions in Banjul - Three of the five charity auctions of vehicles from the 2007 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge have now taken place. (see full auction results) All of 'our' teams vehicles have now been sold. IceCold's Suzuki Samurai Jeep raised 76,000 Dalasis (£1,363), Ibrakeforcake's Isuzu Trooper raised 39,000 Dalasis (£700), the Desert Mice Jetta raised 57,000 Dalasis (£1,022) and First to the Bar's Escort raised 66,000 Dalasis (£1,184). All proceeds from the auctions are split between the Association of Small-Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) and the Gambian National Olympic Committee (GNOC).

8 February 2007 - lots of new pictures on the Ibrakeforcake Plymouth-Banjul Challenge page.

6 February 2007 - Pageant North meeting - Ann Keating has arranged a Northern Meeting on Sunday 25th February at 2-00 pm at 8 Ashling Court, Tyldesley, Manchester, M29 8QS. All Pageant members who live within range are invited to attend, but please contact Ann by email to say you are coming.

3 February 2007 - Science kits for Gambian schools - Joe Brock of Collyer's is going to The Gambia with Pageant, taking science kits for 40 Gambian schools, and running seminars for Gambian teachers.

26 January 2007 - Pictures of IceCold's visit to Bakalarr.

24 January 2007 - The Artemisia Project - We now have pictures of the first training session for villagers on how to cultivate Artemisia, which can be used to combat malaria.
We also have pictures of Ibrakeforcake's visit to Sinchu Baliya.