Donna is to tackle Kilimanjaro to raise cash for a new school after an off-duty teacher told her about the struggle young people in The Gambia face to get an education.

The Buxton Press sales manager followed up her chat with the teacher in her holiday hotel with a visit to one of the schools run by a Nottinghamshire-based charity, and learned that just £25,000 would buy a new one to help even more children.

Now Donna sponsors two of the pupils there – and aims to climb the 5,895 metres of the world's biggest free-standing mountain in September to raise money for the new building.

The school is run by the New Life Children's Centres, which started work in the small West African country in 1995, and is based at Newark.

In a country of 1.5 million with approximately half the population under 14, the average age being 17 and life expectancy just 50, the work of New Life Children's Centres is making a huge difference in the lives of these African children.

Many of the first children to start at their schools are still there today, with some of them now employed. These would have sat by the side of the road with their parents selling peanuts.

They have extended their sponsorship programme to train suitable young people in the Gambian Teacher Training College so that they can then return to the New Life Centres to take up responsible positions.

Donna said: "When you see it with your own eyes, how much they appreciate it, you do what you can.

"I just need to make people aware so that when I go round town asking for sponsorship they'll know what it's for!"

The Centres provide education for 1,200 children and employ 65 teachers, administrators and outreach workers, but the new school is urgently needed to meet demand.

* To sponsor Donna, contact: newlifegambia@live.co.uk.

* If people would like to get involved with sponsoring a child for education in the Gambia they can visit their website at www.nlcc-friends.com.charityhomepages.com