About GUD

The Gambia Upcountry Development Charity (GUD) was started in April 2007 and is a registered charity (no. 1129241).

We work with upcountry villagers in the Gambia to support and enable them to develop viable and sustainable education in areas where the need is greatest.

We are currently working with the villagers of Kanubeh where there is little outside support and people live in poverty with no services. The villagers want to be independent of aid and generate their own income.

The GUD founders, David and Janet Underwood, were introduced to Kanubeh by Essa Dambelly who grew up there. They visited the village with Essa and his wife Lyn in April 2007. Janet and David were so moved by the people and their needs that they decided to set up the charity to help support the villagers.

In 2009, Ella Spencer and Sean Monks became involved with the charity and visited Kanubeh for the first time. Ella and Sean are now both trustees for the charity and continue to work on the village's development.

GUD relies heavily on the compassion and generosity of individual and group donations; your donations make such a difference. As the charity is run by volunteers, every penny donated to GUD is used for the reason it was donated.