The new British Ambassador to The Gambia has visited Marlborough to learn about its links to Gunjur set up by the Brandt Group.

Colin Crorkin, has taken over from High Commissioner David Morley and will fly out to The Gambia on April 18.

He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1975 and most recently served as Her Majesty’s Consul General at the British Embassy in Afghanistan.

He said: “The Marlborough Brandt Group is doing a particularly good job in The Gambia and I thought it essential that I come and see them and learn as much as I can about what they do.”

Marlborough has been linked with Gunjur, a village in The Gambia, since 1982 and the MBG has raised more than £1m since it formed to pay for environmental and educational projects.

It has also helped to organise trips to Gunjur for pupils at St John’s, Marlborough College, former mayors and MP Claire Perry.

Mr Crorkin met pupils from St John’s who were in Gunjur last Easter.

He said: “Links like the MBG have in The Gambia are extremely important because it creates a people-to-people relationship.

“Governments come and go, but if you establish strong community links they endure.”