WHAT WE DO

Introduction

Gamrock Ed Ltd provides teachers, books and school equipment to schools throughout the Gambia in order to elevate the country’s education standards, we will also were feasible give one to one support for children, young people and young adults throughout the Gambia many of whom have failed to engage with other educational organisations and often lack aspiration or an insight as to how their lives might be enhanced.

Gamrock Ed is unique in providing a non-judgmental but realistic approach that is tailored to individual needs for young people aged 5 – 20 years. We will never turn away anyone due to lack of funding.

Our ethos is founded on a “can do” approach that is fully adopted by all our workers who will “go the extra mile” in order to realize objectives.

Forming a trusting relationship is an essential element of our work and we consider the community, religious and personalities, interests and background of individuals and will be allocating teachers and support staff with the most appropriate skills, experience and personality to develop such a relationship. Meeting parents and care providers enable us to discuss the support that we are offering and provide the opportunity to encourage them to be involved in meeting objectives.

Gamrock Ed contributes to genuine public safety for the people of The Gambia.

Our Mission

Our aim is to break the cycle of young people’s negative and disillusioned behavior in order to enable them to reach their full potential and improve their well-being.

Our Vision

Every young person will thrive and have self-worth and will live in a safe and up lifted community.

Our Values

Respect Fairness Honesty Transparency;

Our work within schools includes supporting, guiding and, if appropriate, challenging the educational narrative;

Our Organisation

Gamrock Ed started a Pilot Project in Farato in 2021 with the help and guidance of Avril Grant of Avision Birmingham targeting school children of all ages, as well as young people with a desire to improve their life chances.

Gamrock Ed is a Community Interested Company. In 2023 started the process of registering for a Charitable status under company registration number: 15477656 in the United Kingdom and recognised by the Gambian revenue and customs, and all relevant bodies.

 We aim to improve mental and physical wellbeing, highlight potential and provide alternative views in order to enhance life opportunities to benefit individuals, and their families and local communities.

Uniqueness of Gamrock Ed

• Range of age – 5 years to 20 years’ old
• Non-Judgmental
• Realistic
• Individually tailored to each province
• Information Sharing Protocol with the university of Gambia
• Advocacy
• Home visits

We support people regardless of their:

• Circumstances
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Disability
• Age
• Behavior
• Mental and/or physical health

Objectives

• To act as a resource for young people up to the age of 20 years old living in The Gambia.
• To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded due to lack of education.
• To address the needs of those young people who are socially excluded*.

*For the purpose of this clause, “socially excluded” means being excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one or more of the following factors: child sexual exploitation; unemployment; financial hardship; youth; well-being (physical or mental); poor educational or skills attainment; cultural/religious belief; relationship and family breakdown; The above is not an exhaustive list and Gamrock will adapt to the changing needs of society.

Our current services for young people include:

• Education, tailored mentoring, advice, support to gain self-esteem, positive life skills and participation in society;
• Organising and referring to programmes of physical, educational and other relevant activities.
• Liaising with statutory organisations and other agencies on behalf of young people.

Current Socio/Economic Indicators

Gambia has a unique environment. It is a beautiful and relatively safe place to live. There is wealth close by to poverty and real deprivation. Our business case focuses on vulnerable children, young girls and young people in need. Snap shots and bullet points do not convey the cumulative complexity of their lives. Poverty, debt, poor housing, poor physical health and mental ill health often go hand in hand.

The Needs Above provides evidence that Gamrock’s mission and objectives match the identified needs of the each an every province. We will continue to monitor the needs of young people and their families and adapt our services accordingly.

Challenges

These challenges are not unique to Gambia they are common throughout Africa but that makes them no less relevant:

“Changing national priorities, driven by a new government and a new Prime Minister, fast evolving legislation the impacts of the economic downturn and austerity measures and uncertainty regarding Covid 19 have had a significant impact on our communities and the delivery of services. Further substantial financial cuts are expected in organization were we still seek funding. The cumulative impact of reduced resources across all partner and sponsors will create gaps in service provision, increasing risk and limiting options for putting mitigating action in place”.

Our Plans

• Maintain our standards and promote the value base including raising aspirations for young people;
• To sustain and improve current working practices and increase the volume of service delivery;
• Seeking to secure new funding streams;
• Adopt best practice;
• Enhance Information Sharing Protocol;
• Developing future service expansion:

Board and Trustees

• Paul Richards – Chair
• Melissa Richards – Sectary
• Michael Darbo
• Marlene Talbert
• Avril Grant
• Janeatte
• Joe Rowe

Our Trustee Board has responsibility for the governance and strategic direction of Gamrock Ed– ensuring that we uphold our ethos and purpose and delivers our values and beliefs. Our Board meets at least five times a year. However, the Trustees are approachable, amenable, flexible, dynamic, motivated and Ambassadors for the Charity and can be contacted between Board Meetings for advice and assistance. Each Trustee brings additional skills which strengthens the Board collectively and therefore supports the Charitable Incorporated Organisation to be a very strong service provider within our field.

All Board Members have signed Statutory Declarations of no conflict of interest. Our Board makes all major decisions and reviews a flow of information regarding services, finance, health and safety and quality assurance.

High risk young people/adults are always brought to the attention of the Board.

Board members will be encouraged to attend staff training events were possible and the weekly Management Meetings held. Board members, as and when necessary, act as mentors or offer personal support to members of the staff team.

Management Team

• Paul & Melisa Richards – CEO
• Paul Richards – Operation’s Manager
• Michael Darbo – Event Supervisor
• Melissa Richards – Administrator
• Engagement Workers (including volunteers) throughout Gambia.

Risk Management

Gamrock has always recognised the importance of risk management with individuals with whom we work, our staff and the organisation and the broader community of The Gambia. As an organisation we contribute to community safety therefore risk is a top priority.

The referrals we receive are assessed and we have adopted The Safeguarding Children Board Threshold Tool with a traffic light system.

The highest risk young people “red” are our priority group and as such their issues can be shared and dealt with on a daily basis and also are dealt with at our weekly management meeting and then brought to the attention of delegated Board members. We have developed a Safeguarding Alert Sheet for each “red” young person for their files.

All risk issues, not restricted to client issues, are discussed at weekly management meetings. The management team refer high risks to Board to the Chair between meetings and high level risks are tabled at Board meetings.

Our Marketing Plan

• Website – Will be is regularly updated with up to date information and opportunities by Gamrock administration.
• Facebook – This is a very important development based on social media opportunities to promote our organisation and that of our sponsors which will be linked direct to our website.
• School/College presentations – Planned to give Gamrock management the opportunity to promote our service across The Gambia.
• Gamrock has a very positive relationship with several Radio sations in Gambia and where there is a need to promote our Organisation or an event, we can facilitate the promotion of this by radio.
• All members of Gamrock Ed in Gambia, including staff and Board promote our Organisation externally and as a result we are able to network extensively and maintain a positive image of ourselves and service.