CHARITY workers are flush with success following an aid mission to the Gambia where they received a request to meet the country's president.

Project Gambia: People Feeding People took food and aid to St John's School for the Deaf in Serrekunda as well as providing a new school coach.

The Lanarkshire-based charity helps ensure just over 250 children affected by hearing loss are able to attend school and be fed.

Lynne Gillies, Paul Lafferty, Charlie Docherty and Frank Devine, left Lanarkshire on November 3 for an aid mission to St John's.

Charlie said: “School feeding programmes are central to encouraging children to attend school in developing countries and Project Gambia wishes to ensure deaf children in Gambia have access to education just like other children and are provided with a hot and nutritious meal at their place of learning."

The group was piped off from Uddingston Grammar School where Frank works as a careers adviser.

School head boy, Dean McDonald played the bag pipes while Rebecca Kyle, Alana Docherty and classmates donated the proceeds of a bake sale to the charity.

Project Gambia established a school feeding programme at St John’s five years ago.

This year the aid workers raised enough money to purchase a road worthy school coach for the children.

They also delivered school bags, kit, hearing aids and a raft of other useful items for pupils.

Lynne said: “This has been a hugely successful visit and we have delivered more support to the school than we ever thought possible.

"Thanks to magnificent supporters in Scotland and elsewhere, the school feeding programme is assured for another year.

"We delivered school bags for the children, sports wear, clothing, hearing aids, sanitary towels, footwear, and, of course, the jewel in the crown this year was purchasing a road-worthy coach to get the children to and from school."

The Evening Times told in August how NHS Lanarkshire donated three kilos of battery operated hearing aids for the school children and adults in Gambia and the neighbouring countries of Senegal, Liberia and Guinea Bissau.

Paul added: “We were interviewed on GRTS TV Gambia, which is the Gambian state broadcaster, which recognises how important our support is - not only for the school feeding programme at St John’s School for the Deaf but also in terms of the other support we provide for the school.

"The transport used by the children up until now were death traps, very unsafe, and we pledged we would do all in our power to replace at least one of them.

"We have and we’re all delighted about that."