South Gloucestershire’s links with a village in the Republic of The Gambia will be celebrated next month during a fundraising supper featuring dishes from the small West African country.

Organisers of the event in Rangeworthy Village Hall on February 15 aim to raise £800 from the supper to pay for literacy scheme materials and playground equipment needed by the pre-school in the rural village of Genieri. This week the event, A Taste of Gambia, was given a boost with a £200 donation from the Yate-based housebuilder Cotswold Homes which is constructing new homes at Harford Place in Rangeworthy, just across the road from the supper venue.

The event, which is expected to attract up to 100 supporters of the registered charity Yate Genieri Link, is the latest in a series organised since Yate’s tie with Genieri was established more than 30 years ago. Following a visit to The Gambia in 1986 a group of Yate sixth formers decided to form a friendship link with the village.

Since then the organisation has set up and funded a number of projects to improve the lives of the people living in Genieri. (See http://www.yategenierilink.org.uk/)

‘We welcome this opportunity to assist a local charity providing support for an overseas community whose life-style is so different from ours,’ says Cotswold Homes’ sales and marketing director Terri Hayes-Pugh.

Meanwhile, Cotswold Homes is getting ready to take the wraps off its new showhome in Rangeworthy later this month where – depending on house-type and location – features include a spacious hallway leading to a kitchen/dining suite with a separate utility room; a dual-aspect lounge with French doors opening on to the garden for alfresco living; a ground floor study or playroom, and bedrooms which include a master bedroom with wardrobes and an ensuite. Some bedrooms have a Juliet balcony.