The Association is pleased to once again support the fantastic work of DART
In 2015 DART deployed a training team to Sierra Leone to work alongside fellow UK charity Rory's Well to deliver arboricultural training and equipment to a remote, rural community in the south of the country. The DART training programme was well received by the community, who have used those arborist skills and the equipment generously donated by our sponsor Stein Products Limited to support a number of innovative and sustainable farming initiatives; projects that are significantly improving food security and general health of village communities across the region.
Earlier this year, one of DART's sponsors – Mr Graham Paton of Linguassist Ltd. – on hearing that the school in the village of Taninahun in which our team had worked was on the point of collapse, indicated that he would like to finance the building of a new school and asked us to manage the project. Working once again with our friends in Rory's Well and the Sierra Leone NGO PAD(SL) as our educational advisory body and local project management team, DART's trustees have agreed a project proposal to demolish the old building and replace it with a larger (and much safer!) 4 classroom school scheduled to open in March 2019.
As part of the project, DART have committed to deploy another training team in January, exactly 4 years after our first visit, to deliver advanced chainsaw milling training and equipment to members of the local farmer's cooperative; skills that will enable community carpenters to produce cost-effective timber framing for the roof structure, along with much needed classroom furniture. As with every other DART deployment, this one wouldn't be possible without the invaluable support of our main sponsors Ian and Nigel Fletcher at Stein Products Limited, equipment support from Makita UK, financial donations from the Arboricultural Association and support from hundreds of individuals across the Arb industry. Thank you all.
Watch this space for further updates and if you'd like to donate personally, please look for us on JustGiving:
JustGiving page