Installations engineer Chris Ashton is a man with a mission in life.

For the past two years he -- together with his wife Wendy -- has combined holiday trips to the Gambia with deliveries of vital educational equipment to a school in the African outback.

Chris, from Steeton, said: "The first time we went out there in 2002 I got friendly with one of the waiters in our hotel and he took us on a visit to his former school, St James Lower Basic School in Kitty Village, Banjul.

"Although it is only some 20 kilometres away from the main tourist areas, the lack of the simplest things such as pens and paper was patently obvious.

"The school is not Government-funded, but supported by the local community.

"We were so taken aback by the shortage of supplies that we decided to do something about it, so over the past two years we have made sure we have taken the everyday things that the school so desperately requires.

"Friends and relatives have rallied round by donating all sorts of useful items.

"We also held a raffle at The Dock Club in Steeton, which raised cash that allowed us to buy and take over even more goods.

"The school really appreciates the gesture as it helps it to ensure that the children have the proper tools they require to undertake their education - something we take for granted in this country. They really do need everything they can get."

On their latest visit in March this year, Chris and Wendy also took over T-shirts donated by Keybury Security Systems -- where Chris works -- and its staff.

The shirts had been specially commissioned for the company's fundraising efforts for Red Nose Day 2005, with all employees chipping in a fiver apiece for the honour of sporting them.

Chris says the couple's next trip is scheduled for March next year, when they will be taking over yet more much-needed educational items - and hopefully football kits for the youngsters.

Charity-minded Chris also completed the Great Manchester Run with three friends on May 22, raising more than £500 for Motor Neurone Disease research, an illness from which his father-in-law died.