A group of Lytham friends in the UK are fund-raising for four youngsters in The Gambia who tragically lost their parents.
\nMartin Rowley, owner of Carpets Of Lytham, came to know the country after buying a holiday home here.
\nHe made friends with Ebrima Dacosta, who used to look after the compound which Martin owned.
\nThe pair built a school in Wulinkama, Brufut, for local children whose parents couldn\u2019t afford private schooling.
\nBut following the tragic death of Mr Dacosta, Mr Rowley and his friends from Lytham are keen to see the school continue to flourish and grow.
\nOne of the fundraising team members is Ian Rigg, who ran the Taps pub in Lytham.
\nMr Rigg said: \u201cIt\u2019s a poor country and they struggle to have their children educated.
\n\u201cThe school in Martin\u2019s village was set up two years ago.
\n\u201cIt was awful when Dacosta\u2019s wife died of malaria, and he died six weeks later; I think of a broken heart.\u201d
\nThe group, which includes another friend, Paula Rigg, is aiming to raise \u00a32,000 in the first instance which will be spent on food, clothing and schooling for the four children that Dacosta left behind.
\nThey have now set up this Just Giving charity page where people can donate.
\nMr Rigg said: \u201cWe are sending a sack of rice every month. I went over last Christmas and again in March and I just fell in love with the place. They are such wonderful people, they really looked after me when I got malaria. But they\u2019ve got absolutely nothing, not even running water. It\u2019s a crying shame to see children half way through their education losing out on what they might be able to achieve.\u201d
\nProgress Lodge 4120 and Wyre Lodge 7704 have both given \u00a3250 each.
\nOther help has come in from Hall Park Primary School in Lytham which has donated exercise and text books, Thomas Cook Airlines relaxed luggage rules to allow Mr & Mrs Rigg to carry over extra school equipment on their last trip to the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A group of Lytham friends in the UK are fund-raising for four youngsters in The Gambia who tragically lost their parents. Martin Rowley, owner of Carpets Of Lytham, came to know the country after buying a holiday home here. He made friends with Ebrima Dacosta, who used to look after the compound which Martin owned. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":1747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[1079,237,1080],"class_list":["post-1746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-four-youngsters-in-the-gambia","tag-gambia-news","tag-uk-friends-fund-raising"],"yoast_head":"\n