A CHARITY weekend that included a visit by TV antiques expert Adam Partridge raised £700 to help improve the lives of children in a tiny village in The Gambia.

Trustees of the Leek-based Sandally Education and Development Scheme (SENDS) staged events at the town's Wellington pub.

A pub quiz, an Antiques Roadshow-style event – with valuations by Adam Partridge, pictured, from the BBC TV show Flog It! – a sale of donated goods, a barbecue and two raffles were held, raising £600.

And the coffers were swelled by a donation of £100 from the bride and groom at a family wedding attended by SENDS chairman Bob Hadnum.

Charity secretary Phil Edmeades said: "We set out hoping that we could make £200 to £300 over the weekend, but in the event the total far exceeded our expectations.

"We had tremendous support from everyone at the Welly who joined in the fun and dug deep.

"Special thanks must go to Kevin, Malcolm and Phil at the pub, who did a tremendous amount of work on our behalf."

The valuation event attracted dozens of people who paid £2 per item to have their treasures assessed by Mr Partridge.

Phil said: "People brought along everything from old bottles and bits of pottery, through to a special stick for measuring the height of horses and even an original script from the very first edition of This Is Your Life, which featured Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956."

Others who supported the charity through the donation of items for sale included Paul Cope from The Mixing Bowl with his handmade cakes.

Michael and Nigel Cope, from Cottage Delight, gave a food hamper, while Carter Mason handed over electrical goods and Alton Towers tickets.

Phil added: "It would be impossible to name everyone who gave us their time, their cash, or who donated goods, but we want to say a huge thank you to them all."

The money raised over the weekend will cover the cost of materials needed to construct an accommodation block for the teachers at a Gambian school in Sandally.

Phil said: "The accommodation block will allow the four teachers to stay in the village from Monday to Friday instead of having to make the long trip to and from their homes each day and the village children will benefit from increased lesson time."

SENDS is run by Phil, a journalist; and Leek-based electrical contractor Bob Hadnum, who make regular trips to The Gambia to work on projects at Sandally.

So far they have built a toilet block for the schoolchildren, re-roofed a church and helped to create a school garden.

Their current scheme involves concreting the church floor and partitioning-off a section of the building to form a library to house books donated by Leek College.

They also keep the school fully supplied with exercise books, pens, pencils and other materials.

The pair pay all their travel, accommodation and other expenses from their own pockets.

Bob, aged 55, from Leek, said: "It was a very successful fund-raising weekend.

"It is all down to the people of Leek and the Moorlands, who keep the village of Sandally going financially.

"We also have a close association with Schools For Gambia, who let us use their containers when we ship things out."

Bob will visit the African village in November to finish off a toilet block and start building a church.