Welcome to the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust Website

GAMBIA HORSE AND DONKEY TRUST

Registered Charity No. 1096814

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

 

ONLINE DONATIONS

Please give as generously as you can ...as soon as you can. To donate online please click on the Red Button below. You will be redirected to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) website, which is a secure site:

 

All the 'How You Can Help' Suggestions are currently ongoing, unless specified otherwise

OTHER DONATION OPTIONS

 

Facebook Connect on JustGiving

The latest update to the JustGiving platform is the ability to spread the word about donations using Facebook Connect.

Now, when people make a donation on a fundraising page, they can log in to Facebook and publish their donation details to their Facebook wall and 'friends' news feeds – this means more people hear about fundraising appeals and your charity on Facebook.

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If you would like to set up a standing order by e-mail, please contact Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust for a form.

Alternatively if you would prefer to make a single donation by regular mail please click here for a printable **PDF file form.

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We are desperately in need of pony and cob sized bridles, head collars and 4" and 4.5" bits, so if you could send us any of these it would make such a difference.

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Legacies - A Quick Guide

A legacy is a gift of money, property or possessions left in your will. If you decide to give to a charity, the gift is tax-free.

There are different types of legacies:

  • A residuary legacy is a gift of the whole or a share of whatever remains of your estate after all other gifts have been distributed and any debts paid off.

  • A pecuniary legacy is a gift of a fixed sum of money. You can protect this type of gift from inflation by linking it to the Retail Price Index.

  • A specific gift is a tangible item such as a house, piece of jewellery, silver teapot or car.

Suggested Wording

For a residuary legacy:

"I give _____________________________________* of the residue of my estate absolutely to The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, Brewery Arms Cottage, Stane Street, Ockley, Surrey RH5 5TH, Registered Charity Number 1096814, for its general purposes. I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors."

* State all or the percentage/fraction of the residue of your estate that you wish to leave.

For a pecuniary legacy:

"I give the following legacy free of tax to The Gambia horse and Donkey Trust, Brewery Arms Cottage, Stane Street, Ockley Surrey RH5 5TH, Registered Charity Number 1096814, the sum of___________________________________ (amount in figures and words) for its general charitable purposes. I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors."

For a specific gift:

"I give to The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, Brewery Arms Cottage, Stane Street, Ockley, Surrey RH5 5TH, Registered Charity Number 1096814, my _________________________* for its general charitable purposes. I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors."

* Add a description of whatever you wish to leave.

If you wish to leave a legacy to The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, please ensure you use the organisation's full name, address and registered charity number.

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Legacy Pledge Forms

If you would like to pledge a Legacy to the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, please click here for a printable **PDF file form.

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Standing Order Form

Whilst we understand that people often prefer to donate money to a specific project, we would like to draw your attention to our daily running costs, which are also funded entirely by donations.

Our existing centre has stabling for more than 30 horses and donkeys at any one time. Some of these animals will remain with us for the long term due to injuries or illnesses that prevent them from being able to return to a working life. The remainder are either in-patients receiving specialist veterinary care from our dedicated team of staff and volunteers, or youngsters who are not yet old enough to be trained for working.

All of these animals require daily care from our staff and between them they eat their way through a rather large quantity of groundnut hay, rice bran and cous. Our typical monthly running costs are approximately £7,500 per month to cover all the general running costs of our activities. This does include the costs of our regular mobile veterinary clinics and our educational programmes, as well as the care of the animals but as we are sure you will understand, this is a large amount of money for us to raise each and every month.

We are always extremely grateful for everyone holding fundraising events for us, and everyone who has done this has been a great help in ensuring the continuation of our projects. However, it would be a great benefit to us to know that we have a steady income each month, through regular giving either by standing order or direct debits. Regular givers help us to budget more effectively and make the running of the charity much more efficient.

If there is any way that you are able to become a regular donor, we would be very grateful for any amount that you can give each month.

If you would like to donate to the GHDT via a Standing Order Form, please download the form **in PDF Download the Standing Order Form in pdf or zip format

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Gift Aid - How It Works

Did you know……….?

How Gift Aid works

If you pay UK tax on your income or gains (e.g. through PAYE, by Self Assessment (SA) or at source on your bank/building society interest) and then make a Gift Aid donation, UK charities can claim back basic rate tax relating to that donation directly from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

As a result any gift you make, as a Gift Aid donation, is worth more to the charity than the amount you actually pay

Example

  • If you pay tax at the basic rate of 22%, you actually have to earn £12.82 to receive £10 in your pay packet. (£12.82 x 22% = £2.82 tax)
  • Because charities can reclaim that basic rate tax a Gift Aid donation of £10 it is worth £12.82 to your chosen charity.

To Download a Gift Aid form please click * HERE.

Leaving gifts to charity in your will

If you leave a gift to a UK charity in your will the value of the gift will be deducted from the value of your estate before inheritance tax is worked out.

Gifts made to a UK charity in the seven years prior to your death are also covered by the same exemption from inheritance tax.

If your estate is liable to inheritance tax this will reduce the overall amount of tax due from your estate.

If your business (sole trader, partnership or company) makes a gift to a UK charity of plant, machinery or equipment, used in the course of your normal trading activities, you can treat their disposal as being at nil value (rather than market value) in your capital allowances computation. As a result, your business will get full capital allowances in respect of the gifted equipment - equal to its cost.

If you're a business (sole trader, partnership or company) and you make a gift to a UK charity of goods, manufactured or sold as part of your normal trading activities, you can claim the cost of those goods in the business accounts. Nothing is included as a trading receipt so you will get full relief for the cost of those goods against your taxable profit.

You can treat the secondment of employees to a UK charity as a legitimate business expense. If your business continues to pay that person you can deduct the cost (wages and expenses) of employing them as if they continued to work for you.

The donation of goods by a business to a UK charity for sale, export or hire is a zero rated supply for VAT purposes.

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Could You Make a Monthly Donation?

We are appealing to our supporters for monthly donations to enable us to continue our work in the Gambia. Through setting up a monthly donation to the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust you can help to enable us to budget more easily through these difficult times of financial hardship. For example, £2 or more can go much further in the Gambia than it does in the UK, and as little as £2 could provide a life saving vaccination for a Gambian horse or donkey.

Monthly donations can be set up through the 'Online Donations' page, and can also be done via JustGiving. Alternatively, you can email the GHDT Office and ask them to email you a standing order form to fill out by hand. We would like to thank you in advance for your continued support and generosity - we cannot do our work without your wonderful support and we are extremely grateful for it.

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Charity Choice

Charity Choice September 9th, 2013 - The GHDT is now working with Charity Choice. Charity Choice is a place where charities, donors, volunteers and fundraisers can come together to help the many charities in the UK in a variety of ways. Through Charity Choice you can choose how you give and which charity you give to. They provide information on over 160,000 registered charities. This includes all charities registered in England and Wales.

So, whether you are looking to donate to the GHDT, volunteer your time or specialist skills, give your unwanted goods or leave a gift in your will, you are in the right place!

The Charity Choice donate facility is completely free for the GHDT to use, so what is donated the GHDT receives.

If you would like to show your support by making a donation, please click *HERE.

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Currency Conversion

For an approximate value of your donation, in your own currency, please visit the currency conversion website.

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ORGANISE A DOG WALK

 

THE DOG PROJECT

In February 2023, Alison Scott, a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviour Consultant and her colleague Jenny Baxter (Clinical Animal Behaviourist) joined us at our Makasutu Centre to carry out the initial phase of our big dream - The Dog Project. In recent years, due to the sad closure of some other small animal organisations within The Gambia we have extended our remit to help to ensure the welfare of ALL animals in The Gambia, not only horses and donkeys. There is a real need for veterinary support for local animal owners who are unable to afford to pay typical veterinary prices and therefore their animals were left with nowhere to go. As a result of this we now do a considerable amount of work with both dogs and cats. We have even ended up treated various types of wildlife in need too, from turtles to civet cats and monkeys!

We have had a dream for a long time to set up The Dog Project - a project to improve knowledge of dog behaviour and welfare within The Gambia, to help to reduce the number of dog bites. Rabies is endemic to The Gambia and therefore poses a considerable risk to human health. With a better understanding of dog behaviour, as well as more information about rabies and other dog diseases we hope to be able to reduce incidence of rabies, particularly aiming to reduce the number of children contracting rabies as a result of dog bites. We also aim to promote the benefits of dogs and to demonstrate that dogs are capable of amazing things given the right care and training.

Rabies is one of the most neglected tropical diseases that predominantly affects poor and vulnerable populations who live in remote rural locations. Rabies is a vaccine-preventable infectious viral disease that is spread to people through bites or scratches, usually via saliva. Rabies is a considerable problem in the area in which we work; it is an endemic disease in The Gambia and continues to be a serious public health concern, as well as a welfare concern for animals. The Gambia, Africa's smallest country, remains particularly vulnerable to rabies due to its crippling poverty with 10% of the 2.2 million population living below the international poverty line. Although in theory no one should die from rabies, the treatment is not readily available, accessible or affordable to those in need, and this can have catastrophic burden on the affected families. As most Gambians are also unable to access local veterinary services to vaccinate their dogs, they have little defence or capacity to bring change.

There are several proposed steps to The Dog Project. Primarily the project will teach Gambian school teachers how to teach a syllabus about dog behaviour and welfare to their classes. We believe in sustainability and so it is essential for the Gambian teachers to be able to deliver these sessions themselves. Alison Scott has developed a comprehensive syllabus of lessons to cover one school year, with detailed information for the teachers on how to present the information. Alison and Jen's trip in February was to carry out the pilot project, to ensure that the lesson plans were effective in their aims and that the Gambian teachers were confident to provide them. This was a huge success and the small group of 6 teachers who took part in the pilot study did a fantastic job of understanding the lesson plans and delivering them in a really interactive way to their classes.

As part of the education project, the children are all provided with a questionnaire to complete before and after receiving the lessons. These questionnaires are to help to monitor beliefs and knowledge about dogs and to enable us to assess whether the programme is successful in changing attitudes. The questionnaires were also trialled during the pilot study and showed fascinating results of change, even after just a couple of the lessons were delivered to them.

We have been working in close collaboration with the Government's Department for Education, who are very excited about the prospect of these lessons being rolled out in schools across the country.

An additional phase of The Dog Project will see us training up a display team of dogs, to help to showcase just how intelligent and helpful dogs can be with the correct training. Some initial training was trialled by Alison and Jenny during their trip and they were able to demonstrate some positive reinforcement training techniques to our team of Gambian staff. We will eventually be searching for an experienced positive reinforcement dog trainer to volunteer at our Makasutu for 12 months, to facilitate the training of the dog display team so if this is your skill-set please do get in touch with us!

The next challenge for us now is to raise the funds needed to carry out this amazing project in full. If this is something that you may be interested in funding, or you would like further information about this project, please contact Alison Scott by email HERE.

Alternatively, if you would like to donate directly to this project, you can do so via the specific Just Giving page HERE.

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Take My Lead Charity Dog Walks

We recently discovered a really fun and relatively easy to organise way to fundraise.

Why not organise a charity dog walk - you can start at a local point, for example a village hall, and return in about an hour for some refreshments.

You could also hold a raffle and/or a cake sale.

Why not hold a national dog walk with people all over the country holding one on the same day.  If anyone is interested in this idea please contact Heather Armstrong.

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Nation-wide Dog Walks

In an attempt to raise much needed funding, we are organising nation-wide dog walks. We are asking individuals to try and organise dog walks in their area and raise a little money for us.

We have found that this is a way for families to have a healthy, happy and enjoyable day together whilst at the same time raising funds for other less lucky people and animals and without breaking the bank.

We are very aware that these are very hard times for many people, but if a lot of people manage to raise a few pounds in their area for us, this should all add up and help us to continue our work.

If you are unable to hold one yourself, perhaps you could kindly pass the information on to other doggy friends, clubs or vets who may wish to help.

We would be extremely grateful to you for any assistance you could give us.

Please click on the following link for advice: GHDT Dog Walk Advice

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SPONSOR A DOG, HORSE, DONKEY OR STABLE

By sponsoring one of our dogs, horses, donkeys or Stable, for one year, you will be helping towards the running costs of our charity, and the care of a specific animal.

The sponsorship fee is £24 per year and you will receive a Sponsor Certificate, details of the dog, horse, donkey or Stable you decide to sponsor, a picture and updates throughout the year on the dog, horse, donkey or Stable's progress.

You may sponsor a dog, horse, donkey or stable either online or via post. Gift sponsorships are also available. For more information, please visit the 'Sponsor' link here.

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WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL BUY (WISH LIST)

Your donation, no matter how small or large, can help to buy the following:
 
£1 Lengths of rope for making rope bridles.
£2 A bucket.
£5 A dose of wormer or a bag of food for a horse or donkey
£5 A bit to bring much relief for a suffering animal
£10 A swingle tree for a cart, which will help to reduce the dreadful harness wounds that we see
£22 One cart load of hay for the centre.
£25 Mosquito netting for a stable. We encourage people to build stables for shelter from the heat and flies. If the owners are caring enough to build their own stable, we undertake to pay for the fly screening for it. Before any of our animals go out on loan, the owner must undertake to provide adequate shelter.
£60 Printing costs for educational posters or leaflets
£75 A donkey for a needy family - We have a system whereby if we identify a needy family who would benefit from the use of a donkey, we can offer them the use of a donkey we have purchased or one which we have rehabilitated. They must agree to undertake a short training course in care and management, and are provided with a necessary harness. They must agree to care for it well and to allow us to make regular checks on it. If we should see or hear that the donkey is being abused, it will be immediately removed.
£100 Wood for a turnout paddock. As timber is SO expensive we do not have sufficient turn out paddocks for the horses as there always seems to be something that the money needs to be spent on more urgently.
£160 A new lightweight well balanced cart which was designed thanks to help from TAWS. This type of cart, which looks very similar to the one already used in The Gambia, makes life a great deal easier for the animals and increases productivity.

SEARCH THE WEB WITH EVERYCLICK.COM

Gambia Horse & Donkey Trust is now listed on everyclick.com, a search engine that gives 50% of its revenue to charity. Using everyclick.com as your search engine does not cost you or us any money, but every time you use it you raise money for the Gambia Horse & Donkey Trust. Please start raising money for us whenever you search the web.

Just click on the logo to the right and you can then click on the links in the top right hand corner to either set it as your home page or add it to your favourites. Thanks!

Search the web and benefit the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust
Search the web here!

THE BIG GIVE

The Big Give is a free to use website that helps donors quickly and discreetly find charity projects in their field of interest.

From December 1st the GHDT charity profile will feature a new "double your donation" button which will lead donors through the donation process.

Please visit the GHDT page and 'double your donation'!

 

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THE GIVING MACHINE

This year, more than ever, we are going to need the help of our supporters. I know times are very difficult, but if you can help in any way at all, we would be most grateful. One way that you can help us, without it costing you a penny, is to use and tell ALL your friends about the following shopping website TheGivingMachine.

TheGivingMachine™ is a new way to support your favourite UK charity.

Purchases you make via TheGivingMachine™ trigger retailer donations to your good cause. It costs you nothing!

Please get online and register with them. There are a HUGE number of shops registered with them so please do take a look. Every penny counts, so if you are in a position to make a donation, however small, it will be welcomed. Please click HERE for the GivingMachine poster.

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SIMPLY FUNDRAISING

Simply Fundraising - 3 Simple Steps to FREE funds for your cause - every time you go to the shops! Full details Here!

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DONATE HEADCOLLARS AND BITS

Gambian horses and donkeys are very small, so we can only use bits of 4.5" or less. We now have sufficient larger bits for the few horses that can use them.

If you would like to donate new or used headcollars and bits, please send them to:

GHDT
Brewery Arms Cottage
Stane Street
Ockley
Surrey
RH5 5TH
Email: Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust

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VOLUNTEERING

For information on volunteering in The Gambia, with the GHDT, please click HERE.

We also welcome voluntary help in the UK with fundraising and administration. If you are interested please contact:

The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust
Brewery Arms Cottage
Stane Street
Ockley
Surrey
RH5 5TH
Email: Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust

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FUNDRAISING IDEAS

Carol singing

A lovely way to get into the holiday spirit and raise money for the GHDT at the same time.

Services

You could offer to do dog walking, baby-sitting, ironing, housework, house-sitting when people are on holiday, gardening, car washing, shopping and other errands.

Groom-a-Horse

Do you have a horse or donkey? Why not take them to a garden or school fete and charge a small amount, £1 for example, for people to groom it? It's a simple idea, but very popular with children and adults who may never have had the opportunity to groom a larger animal. It's a fun way to raise money for the GHDT!

Give a Little Friendship

Why not invite your friend for a get together, and ask them to donate to the GHDT rather than reciprocating. A special Friendship Voucher, that you can download and give to your friend, is available here:

**Friendship Voucher in PDF file format.

Recycling

Some local councils will pay you if you collect things for recycling. Phone your council to check, then organise regular collections from your workplace, school or neighbours. This is a great fundraiser and good for the environment too!

For more information on any of the above fundraising ideas, please contact Heather at the following address:

The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust
Brewery Arms Cottage
Stane Street
Ockley
Surrey
RH5 5TH
Telephone:  01306 627568
E-mail: Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust

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FUNDRAISE WITH 'EBAY FOR CHARITY'

The Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust is now fundraising with 'eBay for Charity'. eBay for Charity is an easy way to support the GHDT while doing what you do everyday on eBay. Buyers can shop, safe in the knowledge that their money will find its way to our charity. Meanwhile sellers can choose our charity, followed by the percentage of the sales price they wish to donate - and eBay for Charity do the rest.

Go on, have a go - and help make a difference with eBay for Charity by visiting our 'About My Charity' Page.

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FUNDRAISING

There are lots of different ways that you can help the working animals in Gambia, and helping us to raise the funds to continue our work is just one of the ways that you can help. We are always extremely grateful for any help that you may be able to offer us with the difficult task of fundraising – we rely totally on donations and support from people like you to help us to continue our work helping working equines in The Gambia.

If you require a Sponsor Form, for your event, copies are available here to download **in PDF or as a zip file Download the Sponsor Form in pdf or zip format

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CAN YOU HELP US BY COLLECTING USED STAMPS?

The GHDT can earn £6 per kilo if you send your used stamps to Stamps for Charity! The stamps must be totally unsorted, just as received through the mail. The stamps will need to be on single paper (just the front part of the envelope), and with approximately ¼" of paper around each one.

Just send your collected stamps to:

Paul Alexander
GHDT Stamps
2 Arundel Road
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
NR30 4JY

Thank you!

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DISPLAY THE GHDT POSTER

Please download and print the GHDT Poster and display it at your local vets or tack shop.

The poster is available to download **in PDF Download the poster in pdf format


Example of the Poster

** PDF FORMS

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader Here

All forms and posters etc are encoded in PDF format for your convenience. To view the files, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader, free of charge from Adobe's website, if you haven't already done so. You can print the files from the Acrobat reader and fill in the details.

This page was updated on Thursday, May 25, 2023

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