A Morpeth resident has thanked his “amazing” supporters after revealing that £25,000 has been raised for a building project that will benefit dozens of children in an African country.

Eric Tolman travelled to Uganda last year so he could use his outdoor skills to help with building maintenance at schools supported by Pearl of Africa Child Care Ltd and when he returned home, he decided to start a project in aid of New Kabaale Busega Primary School, located in a remote area near Kampala.

A Mission House will enable organisations, charities, students and volunteers to stay for periods of time to help with the repairs and constant maintenance at the school. The project is called Mission Jovan, named after one of the boys he met in Uganda.

Eric is delighted to reveal that via online donations, the major fundraising ball and fundraising activities such as walking 98.5 miles in four days, the money has been raised and building work for the Mission House started this week.

A picture of Eric Tolman and Jovan from this summer.

placeholder image — A picture of Eric Tolman and Jovan from this summer.

People can still donate at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/MissionJovan as further funds are required for furniture and furnishings. More activities are planned to help this fundraising.

Eric, who visited the site again this summer and is planning to return in February to hopefully see the finished building and help to paint it, said: “The support I’ve received has been amazing.

“A number of people have donated unbelievable amounts of money and it’s great we’re now in a position to say that the Mission House building work has started.

“It will be extremely useful because a lot of people are keen to help, but currently don’t have anywhere to stay in that area.”