History and Achievements

The Marlborough Brandt Group was formed in 1981 by a group of individuals living in Marlborough, Wiltshire in response to the 1980 Brandt Report ‘North-South: A Programme for Survival’.

The report by the Independent Commission on International Development Issues chaired by Willy Brandt, provided a clear analysis of how the global economy had failed to promote social, economic and humanitarian equality within the developing nations, found primarily in the Southern Hemisphere, and how those challenges could be globally addressed.

At the time the report had mass media coverage and was a strong call to action not only to world leaders and politicians but also to people from every walk of life. During this time there was an emergence of community led non Governmental organisations (NGOs) across Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean exploring the potential for the development of partnerships for solidarity and mutual learning.

The founding members of MBG, several of whom had international experience working in the Global South decided that they wanted to learn more about the ways of life of people in other parts of the world - to gain a better understanding of the problems of development. The Marlborough Brandt Group was founded with four broad aims:

  • To educate the group in Marlborough about issues concerning development in the global South

  • To bring those issues to a wider constituency through work in schools, with the media, and with the wider public through a series of lectures and an educational programme

  • To work with and lobby politicians, recognising that international development at that time was low on the agenda and hardly mentioned in the manifestos of the main political parties

  • To develop a partnership link with a community in the global South to bring authority to the learning, teaching and lobbying that MBG would undertake 

Since that time MBG has grown into a dynamic, inclusive and effective charity, the foundations of which were laid by people, some who remain active volunteers today. Taking MBG forward to bring in new people, particularly young people, with fresh ideas. MBG is constantly evolving, adapting and responding to new challenges.

MBG has always been community based, giving something back to Marlborough through its unique link twinned with Gunjur, The Gambia, and supporting a range of UK charities that operate in and around Gunjur. Marlborough can be proud of its heritage with Gunjur as illustrated by the road signs at the entrance to each town, and this is mirrored with road signs at each entrance to Gunjur. 

Our Achievements

  • The link between Marlborough and Gunjur has been sustained for over 40 years largely through voluntary activity at both ends

  • More than 1500 people have exchanged between our two communities since the link was set up in 1982, always living in each other's homes

  • Five Mayors of Marlborough have visited Gunjur and the Mayor (Alikali) of Gunjur has visited Marlborough

  • In a study of the impact of the link in Gunjur by Lilli Loveday in 2010 it was found that the most important impact perceived by a large cross section of the community was the changed relationship between women and men. Women and men reported that women had been empowered and given a self confidence through solidarity with women and girls visiting Gunjur from Marlborough and by visiting Marlborough themselves

  • In a study in Marlborough in 2007 conducted by the Department for International Development it was found that there was a greater knowledge of and support for the UK Government's international development programme from questioning 167 people at random on Marlborough High Street than in five other similar communities in the South of England

  • Many young people from Marlborough who have lived in Gunjur have gone on to work in the field of international development

  • Many young Gambians that came to Marlborough for training are now working in senior positions in Government, business, education or civil society in The Gambia  

  • As a result of our development work with our partners TARUD, over 3000 children have been through pre-school education; there has been access to clean drinking water for the first time; 200 compound and public pit latrines have been built; the incidence of malaria has fallen dramatically; there is greater wealth in the community, particularly amongst women, through income generation programmes; Gunjur is a healthier community as a result of our health education programme particularly through the use of puppetry to demonstrate simple health education messages

  • In a study by Claire Gent it was found that Gunjur would reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 whereas The Gambia as a whole would not reach all the MDGs

  • A pre-school curriculum has been developed with teachers in Gunjur which has now been accepted by the Gambian Government

Pre-school Education in The Gambia

In 2004 TAURD established the TARUD pre-school which provides an invaluable education for 300 pre-school (3-7 year old) children annually and gives them a basic education prior to moving on to primary school. The TARUD pre-school has six classrooms (originally built by students from Marlborough), toilets, hall, playground and flourishing garden that provides extra food for the children. A water pump provides water from a well to three taps making access easy.Thanks to help from the wonderful Dutch Happy Gunjur Foundation a meal is provided at lunchtime.

Thanks to the sucsess of this work, by 2015 TARUD and three other pre-schools have formed the Gunjur Pre-School Group. Together they have created the first curriculum written by teachers for pre-school children (and it is amazing!). 300 activity plans have now been added to aid daily planning and over the next five years the group of schools will firmly embed the curriculum into their daily practice.

The curriculum has now been viewed by both Gambia College and the Regional Education Department who wish to use it for teacher training and for wider use across The Gambia. Recent funding from the Allen & Nesta Foundation means we can now enrol 22 paid and voluntary teachers from the pre-school cluster onto an early development course ECD provided by Gambia College. What an accolade for the teachers of Gunjur!

Pre-school activities are now delivered through our partners Project Gambia, chaired by long time MBG volunteer and previous trustee Anita Bew MBE. MBG has supported them for many years specificlly funding proffesional teacher education and qualifications.

Timeline

  • 1981 MBG founded and forges a link with the Muslim community in Gunjur, The Gambia

  • 1982 MBG gets charitable status. Bill Spray is elected MBG's first President

  • 1982 First Annual Marlborough Brandt Lecture by Frank Judd, Director of VSO in Marlborough Town Hall

  • 1983 First visitors from Marlborough (Jane Grenfell, Head of Maths at St John’s School and Clare James, sixth form student) visit Gunjur for one month, that same year Bai Bojang student from Gunjur, visits Marlborough

  • 1983 GLC Gunjur Link Committee is set up to facilitate links between the two communities

  • 1985 First group of young people from St John's School and Marlborough College visit Gunjur to help construct a five classroom block for the primary school

  • 1986 the first group from Gunjur to Marlborough help construct an adventure playground on a council estate in Marlborough

  • 1988 HRH the Princess Royal gives the sixth Annual Brandt Lecture

  • 1993 Wiltshire Global Education Centre WGEC is established as the educational arm of MBG

  • 1993 Lord Judd, onetime Minister for Overseas development spends a week in Gunjur and meets Sir Dawda Jawara, President of The Gambia

  • 1997 following the award to MBG of a grant of £400,000 from the National Lottery, TARUD was formed in Gunjur as a Gambian registered NGO and a Project Support Group in Marlborough is established

  • 1997 MBG funds an engineering study to provide piped water to Gunjur and hands it in person to President Yaya Jammeh

  • 1998 Isatou Jammeh and Masireh Touray meet HM The Queen at a reception at St James' Palace for Commonwealth Youth Exchange volunteers

  • 2000 Marlborough Gunjur link officially recognised and signs on the roads into Marlborough erected, to be followed two years later by signs at the entrances to Gunjur

  • 2006 Summer Trips are revived after a break with a group of 11 from St. John's and Marlborough College led by Alex Davies and Charlotte Gibson renovating four classrooms in Gunjur Islamic School

  • 2007 DFID Research reveals that people in Marlborough have a greater understanding of and support for international development than in five similar communities. This is thought to be due to the long link with Gunjur and leads to £5m being used by DFID to set up a national community linking programme

  • 2007 Archbishop Desmond Tutu launches the UKOWLA Toolkit for Linking at Marlborough House. Sandang Bojang, Mbanding Jammeh and Mankamang Touray give a presentation to the Archbishop of the Marlborough Gunjur Link

  • 2011 Director of Disability Africa visits Gunjur and commits to embarking on the Gunjur Inclusion Project

  • 2011 The first Lloyds Banking Group trip of apprentices travel to Gunjur.  Three groups each spent a week on projects to support the women of the village. Three trips a year ran during 2011-2014 with single trips in 2015 and 2016

  • 2012 Research reveals that Gunjur will meet the MDGs

  • 2012 - 2015 MBG partners with Lloyds Banking Group and takes 12 groups of apprentices out deliver four projects in Gunjur, including renovating the 1985 primary school building. 

  • 2013 Claire Perry, MP for Devizes constituency in Wiltshire, visits Gunjur for one week with her daughter Eliza, staying with a family in the community. She went on to become managing director for climate and energy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

  • 2013 A group of IB students from St John's spend 2 weeks in Gunjur working and studying as part of their IB course

  • 2013 Gunjur Community Link Committee GCL is restructured and a new democratically elected committee is established representing 8 kabilos (wards) in Gunjur, women & minority groups 

  • 2013 MBG is awarded a grant of £1,241 from Marlborough Area Board to develop a new website

  • 2013 Electricity arrives in Gunjur

  • 2014 Piped water arrives in Gunjur

  • 2014 Successful completion of pit latrine project - 152 latrines built including 4 communal latrines in the central market

  • 2015 Business Entrepreneur programme launched funded by St James's Place Wealth Management

  • 2016 15th Summer Trip delivered and Dr Nick Maurice retires and MBG Director and Karen Bulsara appointed as MBG's part-time paid Director

  • 2017 Following a major strategic review and a significant legacy grant, MBG restructured to focus more on Gunjur and support the many charities that now operate there on the ground. We chose to close our global education operations and office which significantly reduced our operating costs allowing us to redirect tens of thousands of pounds to change lives for the better in Gunjur for many years to come 

  • 2018 The Business Entrepreneur programme enters its fourth year now managed by United Purpose through TARUD and 16th Summer Trip delivered in partnership with Venture Force

  • 2017/2019 MBG partners with St. James's Place Wealth Management based in Cirencester and eight adult groups deliver a range of projects in Gunjur

  • 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic spreads globally and travel stops for a time.  MBG sets up an emergency fund led by Dr Nick with MBG match funding every penny raised. In all £22,949 was raised and used by TARUD to distribute food to 200 most in need families. MBG used reserves to distribute £76,700 and secure £40,000 of match funding, helping to ensure our charity partners survived the impacts of Covid-19 and lockdowns. 

  • 2022 At the end of direct impacts of the pandemic all but on of our charity partners were still operating in Gunjur. 

  • 2023 17th Marlborough Summer Trip delivered by Venture Force with a record 20 participants and for the first time two teachers with the trip embedded in the St. John's school curriculum. 

Research

It is fair to say that in the world of linking communities between those in UK and in the Global South (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean) insufficient research has been done on impact. MBG is no exception although we are delighted that some of our younger members have used the opportunity that the link between Gunjur and Marlborough provides to do some research which has furthered their careers. This research has either been done on a micro level e.g. looking at the impact of our malaria intervention programme or the more macro level considering the general impact that the link is perceived to have had on the community of Gunjur as a result of the 32 year relationship between the two communities.

In addition in 2007 the Department for International Development conducted research in Marlborough looking at the impact that the link had had on attitudes to international development. As a result of discovering the positive impact compared to research in to attitudes in five other similar communities, DFID put £5m into a scheme support other communities in developing partnerships with communities in the South.

All research is done to ethical standards discussed both with the academic institution for which the research is being done, but, more importantly, with key people in the community of Gunjur and appropriate permission is sought before the research is undertaken.

Historical research papers

You can read BUILD’s ‘Voices of the Diaspora- a new vision’ (2013) here.

You can read Lilli Loveday’s ‘Towards development? Reconstructing gender norms’ (2010) here.

You can read the Department for International Development’s ‘Marlborough Link Research’ (2006) here.

You can read Naomi Campbell’s ‘Assessment of The Starfish Malaria Project in Gunjur, The Gambia’ (2010) here.

You can read Claire Gent’s ‘Millenium Development Goals Essay’ here.

You can read Philip Morgan’s ‘Supporting Livelihoods- Making a Difference’ here.

You can read Alice Jones and Tanglewest Douglas’s ‘Climate Change in The Gambia and the Impact on Development’ (2015) here.

You can read Justin Walker’s ‘An investigation of the Gunjur-Marlborough partnership’ (2015) here.