Gambia News: Businessman calls for charity changes
Jul 28,2007 00:00 by Anna
A businessman who set up several self-sustaining projects in Gambia has called on the government to change the way such projects can be funded.
Graham Barton, managing director of Battle Orders, formed a limited company in the Gambia to establish a number of small businesses, including a health clinic, in the poor community of Jarasoma.

But because it is not a registered charity, Mr Barton is unable to access the regular funding the projects need to sustain them.

Instead he is relying on any profits made by the businesses and the goodwill of donations to his private bank account from people who know him.

But profits are small and Mr Barton says to sustain the projects, which also include a video store, annual funding of at least £25,000 is required.

"If you're a huge charity you can go to Comic Relief and start drawing on massive funds," he said.

"But there's nothing available to those on the ground who are working directly with the people who need it most.

"The Charity Commission's rules are very rigid, and of course they need to be.

"But they sometimes preclude more than they protect. To be a charity, you need a board of directors and you virtually have to be semi-retired.

"I'd like to see the government and the Charity Commission look at some way of bringing us into their code of conducts."
Over the last two years, Battle Orders Gambia Ltd built, stocked up and opened the
Castle Clinic and pharmacy in Jarasoma, serving around 2,000 residents with basic medicines, anti-malaria drugs, pre- and post-natal care and child inoculations.

The clinic employs seven local people, enabling them to earn a regular wage for themselves and their families, provide crucial health care to the community and learn business skills that will make the clinic sustainable in the long term.

"I brought over a second-hand laptop I had lying around and gave it to the local woman in charge of the clinic," Mr Barton said.

"She said to me the other day, 'this is the biggest window on the world I've ever seen'.

"She was able to find out that the drugs we're buying come from England, so she now gets on the Internet, buys them directly from England and gets a 25 per cent discount.

"I believe at this sort of low level, running it as a business works much better than charity."