News and Events Archive 2006

28 December 2006 - On Boxing Day Ibrakeforcake successfully navigated the Atlas Mountains over the Tiz-n-Test pass.
A later update says they have left Layoun and are headed into the Western Sahara.
On 27 December Shap Ahoy covered over 600 miles and spent the night at Miranda De Ebro in Spain.

27 December 2006 - Ibrakeforcake are now in Morocco. Communication problems means we have missed several messages.
Desert Mice and First to the bar! reached Marrakech on Christmas Day. By now they may be on the long haul down through Western Sahara and on to Mauritania,
Shap Ahoy, on the T4 Challenge, left Cumbria on 26 December, and travelled as far as Alençon in France.

21 December 2006 - Ringwood School sets up a link with Bakalarr BCS They have produced letters to the Bakalarr children and laminated A4 cards with geometric designs. Plymouth-Banjul Challenge team IceCold in Bakalarr will take these and other gifts to The Gambia. (more details)

Plymouth-Banjul and T4 Challenge updates

21 December 2006 - Ibrakeforcake reach Madrid gearbox still sick, but a replacement located in Gibraltar.
Desert Mice & First to the bar! reach Tarifa Africa beckons

19 December 2006 - Ibrakeforcake - away to Spain

19 December 2006 - IceCold visit to Ringwood school

19 December 2006 - The Plymouth-Banjul organisers have just gone live with their service to publish field reports sent back by teams during the Challenge. We are not sure if any of the Pageant teams are going to use this service, but here are some direct links:
Note - these reports are no longer available

18 December 2006 - Ibrakeforcake - Stage 1 to Bergerac The team have made it to their first stopover  at Bergerac in the Dordogne, but have suffered a gearbox problem.

16 December 2006 - First PBC teams away
Teams in Group 1 of the 2007 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge officially leave for The Gambia on Sunday 17 December. Three teams in Group 1 are fundraising for Pageant projects - Ibrakeforcake, Desert Mice & First to the Bar! Desert Mice actually started from the Hague on 15 December, and Ibrakeforcake are now on their way. The IceCold Teams, in Group 3, leave on 29 December. Team Iron Mighty, also in Group 1, are helping Pageant by taking football shirts and sports equipment to some of our schools.
In addition, one of last year's teams, Shap Ahoy is taking part in a preliminary expedition to reconnoitre the route for the Bamako Run, known as the T4 Challenge, leaving on 13 January. Click on the team name above to see the team pages, and read the latest updates. Teams will be doing their best to send back reports during their journeys, and everything we get will be posted on their team page.

8 December 2006 - Harry's Card - Harry, aged 12, who Ian and Pippa met in October, has sent us this delightful card. He says that he thinks it looks like the Independence Arch in Banjul, so the Gambian children will like it!

6 December 2006 - The Artemisia Project - Tea made from the leaves of Artemisia annua is an inexpensive and effective treatment for malaria, which originated in China. Trials of Artemisia annua 'Anamed', a variety suited to hot climates, are under way at the  Gambian National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI). Pageant is providing funds for NARI to grow plants, to distribute them to several villages, and then to train villagers in cultivation and further propagation by cuttings. (more details)

5 December 2006 - Ibrakeforcake update - route planning and new seats

3 December 2006 - Charlotte May's visit to The Gambia

30 November 2006 - Yakanu Nursery School 'Gambia Crew' purchase land for new school.

30 November 2006 - Ibrakeforcake's preparations continue for Plymouth-Banjul Challenge.

25 November 2006 - The King's Kid Academy, located in Temasu, near Lamin, south west of Banjul, is the latest school to be helped by Pageant. Read more on our new King's Kid Academy page.  Funds are being raised for KKA by two teams in the 2007 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge - Desert Mice & First to the Bar!

20 November 2006 - Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group & New Ethical Gifts
GEPADG works to achieve long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty in The Gambia through reversing the current destruction of forests, mangroves and coastal ecosystems. It is based on the Atlantic coast, and is staffed entirely by Gambians motivated by their desire to protect and enhance their natural environment. This year Pageant is offering Ethical Gifts in partnership with GEPADG as well as the usual range of Pageant gifts. See our Gifts Page for the full range. For further information about GEPADG see our new  GEPADG page or the GEPADG website.

20 November 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge Iron Mighty (T7107) have collected around 150 football shirts, 30 pairs of shorts & socks and an agility training kit, with more to come including footballs and cricket equipment.  Pageant will be assisting in distributing these in The Gambia.

20 November 2006 - Sponsorship Pageant now has 173 children and young people whose education is being supported by individual sponsors. Please see our Sponsorship Page for further information, and our Sponsor Enquiry Page to see those currently waiting for sponsorship.

14 November 2006 - Saloum Nursery kitchen The new kitchen is now complete (more details)

14 November 2006 - Wandifa's new family Wandifa has a brand new baby (more details)

10 November 2006 - Shap Ahoy's new challenge Tim Lovatt and Nick Capron, as Team Shap Ahoy, raised) over £4500 for Pageant by taking part in last year's Plymouth-Banjul Challenge. At the end of December they are participating in the T4 Challenge, to reconnoitre the route for the Bamako Run to Mali. Follow their progress on this page.

5 November 2006 - Pageant North Ann Keating, based in Manchester, is now Pageant's agent in the North of England. She intends to organise meetings and get-togethers for Pageant members in the North who find it difficult to get to Horsham. Watch out for more details.

1 November 2006 - Christmas Gift Tokens In 2005 Pageant introduced its range of Ethical Gift Tokens, which were so successful, that we continued to offer them throughout 2006. Christmas is again coming up fast, so the Ethical Gifts take on their Christmas role, and will be supplied with a Pageant Christmas card. Our Ethical Gifts range in value from £5 to £90. You send the Gift Token to your friend or relative, and schools, children or villagers in The Gambia benefit from  a gift which is sure to be greatly appreciated. From today, Mo Dawkins has taken over the running of the Ethical Gift Scheme. (full details of our gifts)

1 November 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge -  Ibrakeforcake updates

24 October 2006 - News from The Gambia - Week 1
Pippa & Ian are in The Gambia. Pippa posted this news update on the Pageant News blog:

Well, here we are - and wow, is it hot!! It is also somewhat frustrating as there have been only two school days in the week since we arrived - the end of Ramadan has meant extended school holidays. Great for the children, I am sure, but not so good for us.
We have managed to set up the Science Practical seminars for February for the South Bank Schools, but the schools on the North Bank are all on holiday until next Monday (our last day), so we will have to hope all goes well on that day. Those Pageant members who have visited the North Bank on the Banjul to Barra Ferry will know that it is not always plain sailing!
We have visited a number of children and families - and have seen Wandifa's new baby son (very cute!). School here on the South Bank re-open on Thursday, so we hope to cram a lot of school visits into two days!

16 October 2006 - Son for Wandifa We have just heard from Kemo that Wandifa and his wife have a new baby son. No details re name or weight. Pippa hopes to be able to bring back some pics when they return from The Gambia.

13 October 2006 - Yakanu Nursery Alex Odell and the Gambia Crew's project to build a new nursery school in Serrekunda. (more details)  

11 October 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge - Desert Mice & First to the Bar
Clare Jones de Rocco & Guillermo Rocco from the Netherlands, and Katie Ball & Adam Richards from Cardiff have entered the Challenge as the 'Desert Mice' (T7141) and 'First to the Bar' (T7146). (more details)

6 October 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge Updates - Ibrakeforcake Trooper gets a check up (more details) - Ice Cold's jeep goes pink (more details) - A third team has expressed an interest in helping Pageant - more details later.

News Archive July - September 2006

29 September 2006 - Ice Cold update New paint job for the jeep. Ice Cold get a second vehicle - an ambulance. (more details)

25 September 2006 - Ian & Pippa off to The Gambia Broken ankles, heart conditions and any other medical condition they haven't considered yet permitting, Pippa and Ian will be off to The Gambia again on 17 October for a two week visit. They have a very busy schedule mapped out, but if any sponsors or members have a card or letter to send out to someone, they would be pleased to take it with them. No packages, please, they already have far too much luggage! Please post it to their home address to reach them before 14 October. Ian and Pippa will ensure that cards/letters are personally delivered when someone is going in the right direction - much safer than the post. Please keep an eye on Pageant's News Blog. If all goes well there could be some news postings from The Gambia.

18 September 2006 - Ibrakeforcake update the Trooper gets a paint job. (more details)

8 September 2006 - update on Steve Pitman's half marathon Money raised provides woodworking benches at St Augustine's UBS and refurbishments at King's Kid Academy nursery school.
(see King's Kid photos)

7 September 2006 - North Bank Schools Science Fair Kim Pilmer, an American Peace Corps Volunteer,  teaching at Essau SSS, organised a Science Fair for children in Upper Basic and Senior Secondary Schools on the North bank of the River Gambia. (more details)

20 August 2006 - Back to School - Sponsorship The new term starts both here and in The Gambia. We have 50 children and young people seeking sponsorship for their education. Can you help?
See our sponsorship page, for more information and check out those seeking sponsorship

9 August 2006 - Omar's Diary Omar Janneh, Science Co-ordinator from Sinchu Baliya Lower Basic School, has been in the UK from 23 June to 4 August 2006. He has written a diary of his visit.
(read Omar's diary)

3 August 2006 - Pageant News Blog Today almost everyone has a blog. Pageant isn't going to be left behind, and has launched the Pageant News Blog. We will have a team of contributors who can all put breaking news stories directly onto the blog without having to send text and pictures to the Webmaster. This news page will of course catch up on the breaking news within a few days, so for a lot of the time the blog and the news page will carry the same stories.

15 July 2006 - Meet Omar Day on 9 July, Pageant members had the opportunity to meet Omar Janneh, the Science Co-ordinator from Sinchu Baliya Lower Basic School. (more details)

15 July 2006 - IceCold at the PBC Launch Party (more details)

12 July 2006 - Ibrakeforcake  several updates Pageant Meeting, Death of the Cavalier, Launch Party, Meet Omar Day.

News Archive April - June 2006

29 June 2006 - IceCold Update Fund raising at the Milton Fete (more details)

28 June 2006 - Pageant, Charity of the Year The new Mayor of Haslemere in Surrey has named Pageant as one of his charities for the coming year. (more details)

28 June 2006 - Omar Janneh awarded RMS bursary  Omar was presented with a Royal Microscopical Society bursary at the Microscience exhibition and conference, to attend their Light Microscopy Summer School this July. (pictures & more details)

27 June 2006 - Jurunku update Jon Quinnell's work continues with the garden renovated and fenced, and a new borehole and solar powered water supply. (more details) 

26 June 2006 - Horsham Rotary Club Charity Fair Omar Janneh helped out at the Pageant stall, which took £192.50. (pictures & more details) 

22 June 2006 - PBC-07 Ibrakeforcake have purchased a 1988 Isuzu Trooper. Details on their team page.

11 June 2006 - Horsham Rotary Club Charity Fair on Sunday 25 June in Horsham Park. Pageant will have a stand there as in previous years. This year Omar Janneh, Science Co-ordinator from Sinchu Baliya Lower Basic School will be with us, so visitors to the stand will be able to get first hand information about teaching in a Gambian school as well as having the opportunity to buy a wide selection of Gambian goodies. Pageant members are also invited to a 'Meet Omar' day (details on the members page)

11 June 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge 07 Four friends forming two teams have entered the 2007 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge. Team Ice Cold in Bakalarr will be supporting Pageant, and Ice Cold in Banjul will be supporting Health The Gambia. They have just acquired their first car. (see the new IceCold team page)

9  June 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge 07 Team Ibrakeforcake has offered to help Pageant.

3 June 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge 06 The final total raised by Super Trooper for Pageant in the 2006 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge was £4,388.45

3 June 2006 - Steve Pitman's Half Marathon Steve's final total raised for Pageant was £528.01. Some of this has been used for woodworking benches at St Augustine's Upper Basic School.

8 May 2006 - News from Banjul Schools - Brenda and Keith Farrington have sent us pictures and news about Crab Island Upper Basic School, Gambia Senior Secondary School and St Augustine's Upper Basic School. (more details)

7 May 2006 - Bakary Gitteh is Best Principal of the Year - Bakalarr headmaster, Mr Bakary Gitteh, has been named as 'Best Principal of the Year' in The Gambia. The award will be presented on Saturday, 13th May at the Friendship Hostel in Bakau. The ceremony will be attended by important people such as the Directors, Education Minister and Permanent Secretary, and will be covered by the Gambia radio, television and newspapers. We at Pageant would like to congratulate Bakary on this wonderful achievement.

7 May 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge News - The 2006 Challenge is now history, and there are now summaries of this and the 2005 Amsterdam-Dakar Challenges on our new 2005/6 Challenge summary page. Applications have now closed for the 2007 Challenge. Pageant has been approached by some teams planning to take part, but we don't know yet if their applications have been successful. See more details on our revised Challenge page

4 April 2006 - Saloum Nursery, opening of toilet block - Wandifa's extension

2 April 2006 - Diary of Ian & Pippa's trip to The Gambia in February (in 4 parts - see index page)
Quick links to all Pageant forms. See members page for latest website statistics report

News Archive January - March 2006

21 March 2006 - Final total raised by Shap Ahoy for Pageant is £4572.55, which will be going to the Saloum Nursery. Shap Ahoy also donated £1673 to ASSET and the GNOC in The Gambia.

20 March 2006 - Carole Punt and Franklin Odumo get married in The Gambia. more details

17 March 2006 - Donation of Science Equipment - Joe Brock of Collyer's has donated a wonderful array of practical science equipment and specially written manuals to schools in The Gambia.

13 March 2006 - Pageant Loan Scheme update - Pippa reports on the progress of Pageant's first loan scheme in the village of Sika.

9 March 2006 - Our new Sponsorship Enquiry Page shows pictures of all students currently requiring sponsorship and allows you to request further information.

13 February 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge The Shap Ahoy page has been completely updated, and now has 7 subsidiary pages which give a day by day account of their journey from Cumbria to The Gambia.

30 January 2006 - Members' Page This page contains information which is mainly of interest to Pageant members. This page has been on this website for about three months, but you probably haven't found it. There is now a direct link from our Home Page.

28 January 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge - Super Trooper Paul has set up an online photo album.

26 January 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge - Super Trooper Rupert & Paul have returned to the UK. There are some new pictures on their page. There are also some new pictures on the Shap Ahoy page.

21 January 2006 - Pippa's trip to The Gambia - at last we have finished this report!

19 January 2006 - Pageant Loans - pageant launches micro-loans for small enterprises

15 January 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge

Shap Ahoy  - Nick and Tim have returned to the UK. New pictures on the Shap Ahoy page.

Super Trooper have successfully completed the challenge, and have visited Bakalarr

12 January 2006 - Amsterdam-Banjul Challenge Delft Dustbusters have donated 1500 Euros to Pageant.

11 January 2006 - Plymouth-Banjul Challenge Pageant's agent Kemo Ceesay, reports that he has met Tim and Nick of Team Shap Ahoy, and took them to Saloum Nursery on the morning of 9 January, where they handed over a cheque, bringing their total donation to £5000. At 3pm all the Group 1 cars were due to assemble at the stadium in Bakau. Also another Group 1 team, Howells Enterprises, has travelled to The Gambia in the old minibus from Ringwood School. Head Teacher, Chris Edwards, asked Pageant to assist in distributing the large amount of supplies they took out with them, and Kemo is now organising this.

7 January 2006 - Pippa's trip to The Gambia

7 January 2006 - New pictures from Saloum Nursery