TODAY, four giants of the high street fashion world descended on a small shop in the Latrikunda district of Gambia to prepare for the launch of the first Project Gambia clothes shop.
Luke 'Gok Wan' Harrison, Ben 'Sir Philip Green' Furber, Sophie 'Mary Portas' Jones and Molly 'Stella McCartney' Jones, worked tirelessly in the searing heat to transform a bundle of clothes in a room into what could easily be mistaken for a mini Selfridges.
The shop will officially open tomorrow (Thursday, April 13) in one of the most poverty stricken areas that Project Gambia serves.
Project Gambia has funded the initial set-up costs and will support the shop in its first few months, including employing a shop manager, while it develops into a viable, self-supporting enterprise.
Students are off to Half Dye and The Methodist special schools this morning. Photos to follow later.
— Project Gambia (@rhsgambia) April 12, 2017
In Gambia, you will often see adults and children dressed in recognisable brands, including UK supermarket brands, and in the football kits of top teams from across Europe, but these clothes, bought at markets, are not cheap and they are often in very poor condition.
Project Gambia's shop aims to provide good quality, second-hand clothing (kindly donated by its supporters in the UK) at affordable prices.
We will continue to ship clothing stock throughout the year, so if you have any clothing to donate, we would love to hear from you.
Iain Duff, lecturer at Stourbridge College (second year adult volunteer)
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