STUDENTS of Huntingdonshire Regional College were given a warm welcome in The Gambia following a six-hour flight on Friday.

Eleven sport students set off with sports and exercise sciences senior course leader Leigh Jones, head of student services Jill Dickinson and three representatives from the Lisa Kent Memorial Trust, for the two-week trip which will see them helping with building work on a school and providing football coaching for children and adults.

A large football tournament is also planned for the end of the visit in one of The Gambia’s top football stadiums. The visit has been organised through Cambridgeshire-based charity the Lisa Kent Memorial Trust, which was set up to improve education standards in The Gambia.

Before setting off the students spent six months fundraising to cover the �20,000 trip costs. More fundraising events are planned for when the students return on March 23.

Principal Susanne Stent said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students who are going to have the experience of a lifetime and the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of the young people of the Gambia.”