Silsden's Big Indoor Garden Party

Enjoy tea, cakes, lunch or afternoon tea at our indoor garden party, as we flood the Town Hall with music and fill the ballroom with raffles, tombolas and other summer activities - all in aid of the Gambian Schools Trust. There's no charge, and no need to book a ticket, but donations are welcome.

Silsden Town Hall proudly supports the Gambian Schools Trust. By attending this event, you’re supporting the establishment and improvement of educational facilities for young children in The Gambia. Last year, events held at Silsden Town Hall in aid of the Gambian Schools Trust raised £2,750 - enough to build half a classroom for up to sixty children to benefit from. Thank you for your continued support of this worthy cause.

Photograph: Some of the Town Hall's volunteers visit the "Silsden Quarters" in The Gambia, and help to finish classrooms for children in the area.

This small charity was registered in 2003 by Kathy Oldfield after a visit to The Gambia, where it was found that most children did not have access to education. Since this time, thanks to many hundreds of supporters and friends, the charity has been able to operate through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education to build six schools, twenty libraries, four water bore holes and several pump wells. Annually, over 1000 pupils attend these schools, fulfilling a dream for many families.

Every year, a 40-foot container is filled with donations of school furniture, exercise books, pens, pencils, reading books, paper, laptops and all stationery requirements for a school. Although things have improved with regard to infrastructure, such as tarmac roads and electricity to many parts in The Gambia, there are still rural areas with no access to electricity where the nearest school is a few kilometres away.

The charity continues to support schools, mainly in these rural areas, with supplies and ideas to improve teaching methods. Several school trips from the United Kingdom have been arranged, whereby English pupils can experience life in a rural village and help with fundraising efforts towards an additional classroom or library at a rural school. Find out more about the Gambian Schools Trust on Facebook or at www.gambianschools.org.