A SCHOOL in the district will prevent old computers going to waste by donating them to a Bradford-based African schools charity.

Horton Grange Primary School has donated 22 of its old computers to the Gambian Schools Trust charity.

The Trust, which was established in 2001 and is based in Saltaire, aims to improve the education of children in The Gambia by providing better facilities and learning materials for children aged three to seven years old, at five schools built by the charity.

The 22 computers were dropped off by the school at Beckfoot Upper Heaton and will be transported to The Gambia in October.

Lucy Balmforth, a reception teacher at Horton Grange, organised the donation. She said: “The computers are going to be used in a computer room that is being built by a school from Newcastle.

“They raised the money for the room to be built, and we are helping by donating the computers.

“We wanted to make sure the computers were going to be better used, they normally would have just been thrown away.”

Carol Stephenson, headteacher at Horton Grange, said: “We are very proud to be a part of this amazing project; at Horton Grange we believe that all children should have access to a global education.

“What better way to support the education of these children, than to give them access to the web.

“It would be fantastic if our children were able to communicate with the children in The Gambia through our donated computers.”

The Trust is hoping the majority of the computers will go towards a computer room in the Kunkujang School, for seven to 18 year olds, with the rest being shared out among other schools.

Christine Schofield, a trustee at the Gambian Schools Trust said: “It is a great donation, the children at our schools do not normally have access to computers, so it will make a big difference to their education.

“The computers will probably be used in a pretty similar way to how they are used over here, to get the children more computer literate.

“Schools in Bradford have always been good at supporting the trust, we get lots of stuff sent to us by the schools. Every year we send a big container to The Gambia full of stuff donated by local schools, which is usually stuff they are just flinging out, but will make a big difference to the children over there.”

To support the Gambian Schools Trust, contact Christine Schofield on 01274 581504, email gambian.schools@blueyonder.co.uk, or visit the charity’s office in Bingley Road, Saltaire.