A charity based in Mansfield has completed a project to build a new school in a poor African country.

Representatives from The Peaceful (Uhuru) Trust plan to travel to Zambia later this year to officially open the school with Esther Lunga, the wife of the country’s president.

The trust, which runs charity shops in Mansfield, Mansfield Woodhouse, Sutton and Nottingham, launched the project after visiting the Mwape district in the Luangwa Valley in 2016.

Work started on the new school in Chanda in June last year and it is now ready to cater for 120 youngsters.

“The school they had was nothing more than what we would perceive as a carport structure,” said one of the trust’s trustees, Charlene Burton-Betts. “After our visit in 2016 we discussed where we could help the most.

“The majority of other villages had plans for improvements, but this one didn’t have anything speak of, so we thought it logical to help.

“We feel education is the most important ingredient in a child’s future, and that every child should have a basic right to education.

“Who knows what some of the children in Chanda could achieve in the future. The possibilities with a good education are endless.

“It’s a massive achievement for our charity, and we are very proud of what we have accomplished with some help from others in the Mansfield area.”

The Peaceful Trust’s shops sell clothes, shoes, furniture and other household goods, helping to raise money for worthwhile projects in the UK and in some of the world’s poorest regions, particularly within Africa and Asia.

Help for the Zambian project was provided by the Mansfield-based National Police Aid Convoys, which donated furniture, equipment, stationery, uniforms and school bags.

They filled a container that is on its way to the Luangwa Valley and should arrive in May.
West Nottinghamshire College, Mansfield, is organising a collection of pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners and pencil cases for the school.

The charity hopes to have enough items for each pupil to have their own uniform, school bag and pencil case full of basic items.

ABOVE: Charlene Burton-Betts (right), a trustee of The Peaceful Trust, with David Scott, chairman of the National Police Aid Convoys, and Co Coun Joyce Bosnjak, of Nottinghamshire County Council, pack the container that is transporting items to Zambia for the school.