A ST ALBANS charity shop welcomed a member of the Gambian government’s administration on Monday, who personally thanked the store for its work in his home country.

Mambanyick Njie, the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, visited the Kadect Charity Shop for Africa on Hatfield Road where he welcomed the work the owner Mohammed Akhtar was doing to raise funds to build a school for deaf children in Gambia.

The former owner of Medina General Stores on Hatfield Road already has one charity shop, on the same road, which has enabled a school for deaf children to be established in Kashmir.

He told the Herts Advertiser just a few weeks ago that he had already provided the funds to train a teacher for the deaf school in Gambia and hoped to open the centre by the end of the year.

Speaking of Mr Akhtar’s plans, Mr Njie said: “I think it will be fantastic. It’s important too because we as a government are looking for these kind of partnerships and we welcome them.”

Mr Njie is in the UK studying for a degree in human resource management and will return to his home country in December.

When asked about his impressions of St Albans he said he had “fallen in love instantly”.