Former Dumbarton minister on two decades fundraising for education in The Gambia

dailyrecord.co.uk:

When Reverend Kenny Macaulay booked a winter break in The Gambia more than two decades ago, he could never have imagined the impact it would have on his life.The former St Augustine’s minister was shocked by the poverty in the country, as he saw children who were unable to afford education peering in the windows of the local school.That prompted him to start sponsoring education for children in the London Corner area of Serekunda and, after speaking to his congregation about his time in West Africa, generous parishioners began donating to help educate Gambian youngsters.Interest quickly grew from the wider community, who donated tens of thousands of pounds to the Dumbarton Gambia Education Association – helping to educate children in London Corner every year.However, after 20 years, the charity will be wound up this summer when the last of its sponsored pupils finish nursery education, with Rev Macaulay proud of the impact generous locals from Dumbarton, Helensburgh and beyond have had on the lives of young people more than 4,000 miles away.He said: “We made the decision to start our own school after it became evident the headmaster of the school we were donating to was telling people he was funding it himself, and then pocketing donations made from people in The Gambia.“We started Dumbarton London Corner Nursery School.“In our first year we took in 90 children in three classes.“By that point the amount of money being donated by people from Dumbarton was in the thousands.“The Rock Community Church was involved and supported it in a big way.“We were educating and feeding 90 kids and employing eight people.