Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET)
All of our items are produced by a range of small scale producers who are members of the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) which is the Gambia's leading pro poor charity.

All members of ASSET are committed to working with Brighter Futures to provide the best quality goods they can at fair prices. In return Brighter Futures operates a high standard of ethical practices in dealing with them including payments for goods on delivery, helping with stocks and supplies, helping with transport and other support activities.

The basis of this working partnership is to help local producers through trade not aid.

Sculptures Association
Brighter Futures is working with ASSET to help to develop the traditional skill of woodcarving to reflect today's modern tastes whilst retaining traditional methods of production and carving.

All Brighter Futures goods are acquired directly from the Sculptures Association who are members of ASSET. This means that we have access to over 25 carvers and their finishers so that all of our orders can be delivered on time.

Normal production time is between 3 and 7 days depending upon complexity, all carvings are produced against your specific orders and requests and deliveries should be within 28 days. Specific requests can also be made to order.

We have, for example, had items made ourselves such as a football trophy presented to celebrate football matches between local teams and tourists as a way of breaking down social and cultural barriers.

If you are interested in having something made to order, simply fax the design or specification to us on (+44) 01223 893907 and we will give you a quote.

All carvings use traditional Gambia hardwoods (no softwoods and pines) and are quality controlled by the Sculptures Association and our own inspection team.

We offer everything from chess sets to traditional and abstract carvings.

Salam Batik
Our batik items are made in Serrakunda, by Salam Batik, a group of local people who have developed an excellent reputation for quality and originality in design.

Sewing is done on old treadle machines because of interruptions in power. The dyeing process takes place in the old dolly tubs used in the 1940's and 50's for hand washing prior to modern electric machines.

The wax used in the batik process is from Gambian bees and every item sold by Brighter Futures is an "original" with no two pieces identical.

Kololi Women's skills centre
The centre is currently training over a dozen young vulnerable women in skills to make traditional tie-and-dye and batik clothing and goods.

We would very much like to help to increase the size of the project as there is a waiting list for places. New equipment is also desperately needed and we would like to contribute towards the cost of a generator to power the electric sewing machines which are often unusable because of power restrictions.

Paper Recycling Skills Project
The paper recycling skills project is the brainchild of a young graduate who developed the idea of making recycled paper for the use of schoolchildren who are desperately short of both writing paper and exercise books. The Gambia does not currently have a paper mill.

The recycling programme is operated as a charity and all sales of books and paper help to fund the schools project.

All products offered for sale by Brighter Futures are hand made. The individual sheets of paper in the patchwork books are all hand made, pressed individually in felt strips and sewed by hand into covers made from cast off material from tie and dye and other sewing projects. Each cover is decorated with local shells and beads. The texture and constitution of every page of the books is slightly different reflecting the use of local materials such as flowers and fruit to add "size" and starch to the paper.

These books will make excellent albums, diaries or journals and are ideal for that unusual or special present.

The names of the books reflect supporters and organisations who have helped the project.

Fajara Women's Centre
The Fajara skills centre was established to help young school drop-outs to earn a living through the development of skills in hair dressing and beauty therapy. In the Gambia young women in particular spend many hours on intricate hair styles which are often copied by young tourists.