When they first went on holiday to The Gambia little did Lynn Hollings and Terry Pasquale realise how much their trip would change the lives of needy children in the African country.

When they first went on holiday to The Gambia little did Lynn Hollings and Terry Pasquale realise how much their trip would change the lives of needy children in the African country.

But now, just over two years on, the women from Bintree have helped to transform a poor village school into a place where about 60 youngsters aged four to 11 are getting a much better start in life.

From the moment they saw the little school in Kafuta Tumbung the two women just knew they had to help. To date they have given about �4,500 to the school, which is from a combination of money raised from sales and events and also their own donations.

With the help of Sheriffo Darboe, a Gambian man the women enlisted to help oversee the project, this money has bought materials that the local African community has used to design and build a better school and future for their children.

Mrs Hollings said: 'What started out as a two week holiday in the sun turned out to be a quest to help a small village rebuild their school.'

As well as repairing the old building a new block was created to house two more classrooms and a staff room, and a separate store room and toilet block have also been built.

'They now have a lovely school. They have seats to sit on and desks to write on whereas before they had only a plank of wood on the floor in one classroom, and one old chalk board to learn all their lessons from. They also now have a toilet whereas before they had to use the bush so now it is a lot safer for them,' she added.

'The children are the future of The Gambia and the school will help give the children a future. Before some of them did not go to school because it was too far to walk to another school, but now they can have an education every single day.

'We would like to thank everybody who has helped achieve this.'

Now the school is finished they hope to move onto a new project soon but first they want to help the Kafuta Tumbung Good Will Nursery School one last time.

They are putting together a shipment for the school full of uniforms (gingham school dresses for the girls and grey shorts and white shirts for the boys), sports equipment, children's books, pens and pencils.

They also want to help pay for the teachers' wages in the short term although they are suggesting that the school starts charging the children a small amount of money to attend to help the school become self-sufficient.

Anybody who would like to donate items for the shipment should call 01362 684304.

There is a quiz night in aid of the school at The Firs pub, in Cromer Road, Norwich, on March 26 starting at 8pm.

For more information on the project visit www.bashcharity.co.uk