The seventh AGM took place on Sunday 25 January 2009 at 2.30pm at Old School, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex. It was well attended, with 49 members present.

Highlights of the Chairman's Report Pageant now has a membership of around 280. There are now 240 students in the Pageant sponsorship scheme, with an increasing number in further education. Work is progressing on a number of projects in The Gambia, such as the Artemisia Project, which helps to combat malaria. At Bakalarr, they are now propagating their own plants, and other villages have started cultivation trials. We sent several shipping containers during 2008, mainly containing school furniture. Despite the increased shipping costs, this was very worthwhile, as it would have cost at least twice the amount to buy equivalent items of furniture in The Gambia - and there was the added bonus of being able to send a huge amount of other useful material as 'packing' between the pieces of furniture. Ian Howard delivers the chairman's report  from a suitably elevated position >>

despite appearances, everyone was awake!

Sponsorship Highlights Peter, from Bishop's Waltham Junior School in Hampshire, has sponsored a Gambian boy, Ebrima, entirely by his own efforts, with a sponsored run, other fund-raising events and lots of jobs at home. Note Bishop's Waltham Junior School, was formerly know as Ridgemede Junior School. See this Pageant page for more about the school. Peter holding a thank-you certificate from Pageant which shows Ebrima's picture  >>

Two houses at Christ's Hospital School near Horsham, run an annual Arts' Festival in the school theatre to raise funds to sponsor a Gambian boy, and also to provide sports gear and science equipment for his class. They play to a packed audience of their school fellows, who pay a small sum each to watch a really great show. Pippa and Ian have been fortunate enough to be invited guests. Larry (below, on the left) represents Peele B House and Sammy represents Peele A House.

Rachel Day sponsors Modou, a young handicapped boy who is in a nursery school in the rural south of The Gambia. The school enters a football tournament organised for nursery schools and Rachel has provided two sets of shirts and some shorts for the nursery children, while her workmates have provided a further set for the Primary school children in the same village. Modou, aged nearly six, sometimes plays in goal for his class team, but we are not sure that he will play in the tournament, so Rachel has provided him with his own special named shirt to make sure that he will have one of his own.