Updated
June 19, 2005
UK Based Charities
By no means the only ones, but these are the ones GTS is acquainted with - If you know others please let us know.
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Disturbingly we have had reports that much charity money collected for
The Gambia is used to pay for charity workers to live a comfortable lifestyle
under the claim that they are setting up the structures to provide help.
Charity officials are flown out and put up in hotels at the charities expense - just to observe the help and support projects that are being funded
We think this is immoral, no GTS membership money or donations are used to fund travel, accommodating or running expenses of any part of the GTS organisation.
Travel & accommodating is funded out of our own pockets. All business expenses are funded from the income made by GTS Kololi & GTS Dardeema - by providing tourist services and a quality restaurant.
Where we are concerned about a charity we remove it from our pages, displaying them on this page is no guarantee of their ethical standards.
Charity 'burn out', the National Lottery, and other factors, might suggest that 'charitable giving' is a minority passtime.
As well as a couple of well established and registered charities there are several individuals like GTS who in their own ways are trying to make a difference.
May Rooney's Paper Mill (May & Amat Jarju based in Gambia)
Gambia Tourist Support (Francis Glynn - Kabs Jabang - Gambia & UK)
The Essau Project (John & Kay Skingsley - now administered by GTS)
Friends of GOVI (Helping Gambia's blind and partially sighted)
Schools for Gambia (Mae Winterton)
The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust (Heather Armstrong)
Friends of The Gambia Association - FOTGA
Friends of Gambian Schools - FROGS (Sally Reader)
The Derek Bailey Foundation - www
Schools for Progress (Howard and Christine Clake)
GTS supports any efforts to help the Gambian people, but we are not a UK registered charity, even though all membership money goes to support Educational Sponsorships, we are actually creating sustainable employment. This by its very nature has to be commercially viable to ensure that wages are available to sustain fair employment. GTS's Bar & Restaurant now employs 16 Gambians full time as well as funding much of the development we are doing in The Gambia. GTS is the only fully self financing UK charity we know of in the Gambia. We are sorry to say it, but there are people taking UK size salaries, expenses and perks, while claiming they are charity organisers and the UK charity commission rules legally allow it.
All GTS workers are equal and all earn an agreed wage. The 'profits' are used to pay back any interest free loans and fund further development and expansion.
All the money earned by any part of GTS remains in The Gambia.
We expect that this will allow GTS to grow into a significantly different tourist enterprise where the people carrying out the work in Gambia, benefit from their labour in a continuing and sustainable way.
Already a number of members and non members have offered to help us both financially and during their own visits to the Gambia - if you can help and agree with the GTS way of getting things done, please consider contacting us and discussing your ideas.
GTS it growing significantly each year - maybe you can help.
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