information regarding the Charitable side of The Challenge:-
"The Gambia is a small country, as most of you now know having said 'where the ^&^$&$ is it?" - and consulted your maps! It is also a poor country that struggles with having a population the size (roughly) of Birmingham and a land area that is more the size of Scotland. More than 75% of the population are subsistence farmers and the country comes way down most league tables - except ones to do with quantities of glorious sunshine!
The government and the people of The Gambia are heavily supported by donor organisations. All the major donors (World Bank, UN, EU and so on) are here and a good deal of funding also comes from friendly Muslim and Arab countries. Add to this a myriad of smaller 'non-governmental organisations' (NGOs) and you have a rich mix with huge potential for overlap, confusion and general mayhem. Gambians are mostly a very honest bunch - but in circumstances where the culture demands that if you have resources you are expected to share them with anyone remotely related to you, AND there is a great deal of poverty, it is not surprising that funds are sometimes 'misdirected'.
Cars are among the most coveted items in the Gambian order of priorities. At the top of the shopping list for any new NGO is at least one brand new 4x4 and even the most humble executive will be ready to bend the funding rules in order to get their mits on a motor. This comes about, not least, because vehicles are seen not as the possession of the owner or the organisation but as a public good available for use - any use - that the driver can get away with. Having a vehicle also often causes more problems than it solves. Affording petrol is a major and ever present problem and as the vehicle is 'not my responsibility even though I commandeer it whenever possible' not much care is taken of it, it is driven madly on quite awful roads and breakdowns keep vehicles off the road as much as they are on.
Julian's policy of arranging for cars to be auctioned and the proceeds given to charities makes absolute sense in the circumstances already described. At the heart of the Gambian end of the Challenge there are two organisations working very closely together. The first is the Association of Small-Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET). The second is the Gambian National Olympic Committee (GNOC).
ASSET operates, as its name implies, in the tourism industry. But it is as far away from the activities of the big tour companies as can be imagined. ASSET was set up to help thousands of Gambians to scoop up more of the crumbs from the tourism table and, as one member said, to 'give a voice to the voiceless'. So it lobbies government to do more for the juice pressers, the fruit sellers, the tourist taxi drivers, the official tourist guides and people with many similar jobs, all of whom struggle to gain access to the tourists who are managed by the tour operators and the bigger ground operating companies.
When you arrive in The Gambia you will not be a 'tourist' you will be a 'traveller'. A much greater proportion of your spending will stay in The Gambia and you are likely to want to meet and spend time with the 'locals'. ASSET can help to make your stay really enjoyable. Arrangements are in hand to encourage you to stay in the smaller hotels and guest houses and to make excursions to places run by ASSET members, many of which are away from the tourist drag and which offer an interesting experience.
By contrast the GNOC is about making things work for the country's sports persons. There is huge interest and participation in sport. Those of you who have not been to a country like The Gambia will be staggered by the huge numbers of 'football pitches' - patches of bare sand - at least one in every village. Very few people can afford the kit that gets bought for kids from the age of two or three in the UK - and is replaced every birthday with the latest variation. Football boots, footballs are in very short supply and to see a goal with a net is almost unknown. The GNOC struggles hard in these circumstances to offer a variety of sporting activities and to build stadia around the country. The National Stadium, where your car will be auctioned, is an impressive building but it is the only one of its kind in the country. The GNOC is building more facilities as and where it can but if you have a sporting interest and want to do a bit more make sure you have a chat with the officials at the stadium when you are here.
ASSET and GNOC are the two organisations that are working to make sure that your trip is fun, interesting and - hopefully - well-organised. They will co-ordinate everything this end by working with the government and all the official organisations that you will bump into. They will also be arranging for Gambian charities to hear about the Challenge and to be able to apply for some of the proceeds. In addition they will also do what they can to monitor the way the money is spent in order to make sure that it goes where it was meant to go.
ASSET and the GNOC hope that you will enjoy the Challenge. You can be assured that we will do all we can to give you a good time when you reach the end of the road!!"
Grants Allocation Sub-Committee
Members of the Grants Allocation Sub-Committee are to be independent and not connected with organisations relating to children, youth or tourism i.e. they will not be associated with companies, charities or organisations that are potential beneficiaries.
Potential members to be approached are from:
• Chamber of Commerce •Gamstar Insurance Company •Standard Chartered Bank • Delloitte & Touche •Sahel Invest (reserve)
The Sub-Committee will:
ensure that the process of allocation of funds to beneficiaries is smooth, acceptable, transparent, credible and fair
receive and review applications after they have been screened by
Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) - in the case of Tourism applications,
Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC ) - in the case of Youth and Sports Development applications or
Control Group - in the case of Children’s applications
ensure that the criteria are applied appropriately to grant applications
keep accurate records of allocation of funds
Criteria for Allocation of Funds from the Auctions40% of the funds raised will be divided equally between ASSET and GNOC. The remaining 60% will be distributed to applications that fulfil the following criteria:
Non-profit making companies that are registered and are operating in The Gambia
Companies that are engaged in activities that support children, youth and sports development associations and small scale tourism projects
Organisations with a turnover less than
Applications will be passed to ASSET and GNOC (as appropriate) for preliminary review and advice
Administrative CostsAdministrative costs will be met equally from the monies donated to ASSET and GNOC
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