SHARE YOUR PARTY WITH A WHOLE SCHOOL!

Everyone loves a good party with lots of nice food to eat, cakes to savour and perhaps something sparkling to drink. But Beverley Rotary Club’s adopted school in The Gambia has 90 kids attending who barely have enough food for one meal a day. So how about sending just £15 of your budget to ‘Feed a School for a Day’ and enjoy knowing that your celebrations are making a difference!

The Aisha Memorial School in Tujering, The Gambia, was built by two local retired teachers on land donated by an American Christian Charity. They were visiting the country to study the local bird population and were shocked to see under-eights had no schooling - in fact, most had few belongings at all. There is no legal requirement for children to be educated in the Gambia and therefore no tradition for children to be ‘in school’, so this initiative will change lives. The school which has been erected has classrooms and a kitchen, with enough land for an allotment, mango trees and a football pitch. The children are taught, in English, by 3 Unicef teachers, although they are also taught Arabic for 1 lesson a week. There is little play equipment at the school, but a recent appeal to football clubs has seen Hull City donating football shirts and a charity called ‘Furniture for Education Worldwide’ transporting donations.

But most of the children are from such poor families that they go to school on a glass of water and live on a single meal a day, which they eat 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Liz Whitaker is Beverley Rotary Club’s President this year. Rotary is an international service organisation whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service to advance goodwill and peace at home and abroad. This year, Liz has chosen to support Beverley Community Lift and Daisy Appeal as ‘home’ charities’ with Aisha Memorial School as her ‘away’ charity. She is hoping that the idea of sharing a celebration with 90 children, who you might never get to meet, will catch on and the kids will be guaranteed full stomachs on your special day!

You will receive a presentation certificate to commemorate the event, with grateful thanks from the school. How to make your £15 donation (more if you wish!) visit the Club’s website: www.rotaryribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=180, click on the ‘Feed a School for a Day’ link and complete the details.

You could also sponsor the school in memory of a loved one!