In the early 1990's, Mae Winterton went on a family holiday to the Gambia - a trip that was to change her life for ever.

The conditions that these people lived in were a total shock. The children had nothing and most had never even seen a school, let alone attended one. In one particular village she saw, sitting under a tree, about sixty children - this was their school! The smaller children were writing in the sand and the teacher then went round to mark it and then smooth it out before moving on to the next lesson. Older children were writing on paper torn form old cement bags using pencils cut into four pieces.

When she returned to England, Mae decided to try to do something to help. She returned to that village later on the same year with as many school supplies as she could carry in an attempt to give them some of the basic essentials that we take for granted, doing the same thing for different villages over the next few years.

In 1998, Carole Downes went with Mae to visit some of the villages and decided that she too needed to help. Between the two of them and a few of their friends they managed to raise enough money to finish the part built school in a village called Batakunku. A committee was then set up and the charity achieved registered status. Expanding so well, the charity is now also registered in Germany and between the two groups several new schools have been build, with many more planned in the near future. With help and donations Schools for Gambia can bring hope and education to children in some of the poorest regions of the world.