Egremont charity, Siiboo, celebrates its first 'Siiboo Day' in Gambia, with the hopes of giving the children their own version of Christmas to look forward to every year.

Colin and Sharon Fox's charity, Siiboo, put smiles on over 100 children's faces over Christmas, with all the young schoolchildren receiving shoe boxes filled with all sorts of treats. The gifts inside the boxes included pens, pencils, paper, sweets, hygiene products, and even money and Christmas cards - all funded and donated by people in West Cumbria.

"It's really great getting people involved, and giving them the ability to track their parcels through social media", the charity's founder, Colin Fox, commented. "One woman from St. Bees said how happy she was to actually see one of the children holding her parcel - she could tell it was hers from the wrapping paper, and she was so pleased it had reached the children."

The couple's aim for 'Siiboo Day' is to make it a recurring event for the children in the extremely poor Gambian villages. As they don't celebrate Christmas, they don't get to experience the excitement of looking forward to Christmas Day - and this is what Sharon and Colin want to change.

"Sharon adores the kids. She wanted to send shoe boxes over for Christmas, but as they don't celebrate it, we thought we'd create a different event for them to look forward to, celebrating the charity's involvement in Gambia", Colin explained. "We wanted it to be a day for them to enjoy and remember forever."

The ever-caring duo founded the charity in May 2015, and named it 'Siiboo' for its African meaning: 'dream'. When discussing the heartfelt meaning of the charity's name, Colin commented, "so 'Siiboo Day' actually translates to them as 'Dream Day', which is something we really wanted to get across".

Colin and Sharon definitely achieved this, with 130 Gambian schoolchildren receiving a 'Siiboo Day' box, as well as a two-course meal - something rarely experienced by the children, who usually have one meal per day at the most - and entertainment from Mandinkan dancers and drummers. The children were smiling constantly throughout the day, with everyone getting involved in party games, sports games,and even singing and dancing with the tribe's traditional dancers.

The schoolchildren were also given sweets and fizzy drinks, which they can be wary of if they've never tasted them before: "they can be a bit scared, but then they taste it and say 'ooh, I like this!'. It's really funny and great to see their reactions to new things".

On top of 'Siiboo Day', the Egremont-based charity also run the 'Big Little Shoe Appeal', working with eight West Cumbrian primary schools to ensure children in Gambia receive an education by asking for shoe donations to send over to the children in poor Gambian villages.

"As shoes are part of the schools' dress codes, families have to choose between providing food or buying school shoes", Colin said. The donations from local primary schools are therefore vital as they allow children to go to school, as well as protecting their feet from getting burnt or cut on the unsafe roads.

The caring couple are also funding the building of a poultry farm and a bakery in a small Gambian village, which will both be completed when enough money is raised. Both will provide jobs for the people in the village, and make the area a better place to live.

"Donations are so important for funding these projects", Colin explained, when asked what the people of West Cumbria can do to help. The charity founders are holding an event at the Cleator Moor Celtic Club on Saturday 6th April, with Irish folk singer Stephen Dobbs performing, to raise money for Siiboo, and fund all the work it does. "If everyone in Cumbria gave £1, we could finish the poultry farm and get as many people as possible in the village in work".

Colin and Sharon are visiting the villages in March to distribute the 400 pairs of shoes donated by West-Cumbrian primary schools, and Colin in particular can't wait to help out in person, laughing when he said "we go over in seven weeks, five days - not that I'm counting!".

To follow Siiboo's work and find out more about how you can help, go to the charity's Facebook page - Siiboo, @Support Gambia.