The fund-raising team of Gary Boon, Sue de la Haye, Darren Wallser, Debbie Dewhurst, Katrina Simon, Bob Auffret, Sophie Le Sueur, Mike Crouch, Catherine Murray (team leader) and Dick Richomme (00683056)

HUNDREDS of pounds has been raised for a farming project in Uganda that will help to feed hundreds of widows and orphans in a poverty-stricken community.

A team of 15 volunteers are preparing for the next Jersey Overseas Aid trip in July to Mwangi village, near Luwero.

JOA is donating £37,000 towards the agricultural project, which will pay for recruiting and accommodating local workers, sorting out the water supply and building insulated storage sheds and animal pens.

At the weekend the 15 volunteers held a sale at St Martin’s Public Hall and raised almost £500, which will help to pay for seeds and livestock for the farm, including chickens, cows, and goats.

Dick Richomme, one of the team leaders who has led five JOA trips in the past, said that this project will improve the lives of hundreds of people.

He said: ‘There are around 25 widows who each look after up to 18 orphans under ten years old. At the moment their only way of making money is by selling meat or cooking bananas, from which they make a pittance. Fortunately they have been given a plot of land which will be used for their agricultural project. And we hope that profits from the farm project will go towards 86 orphans who need our support.’

The JOA team will spend three weeks in Uganda in July working on the 25-acre field.