CHARITY stalwart Gary Williams is back home in Broad Lane, Bishampton, after visiting health projects in Ghana.

Gary, a trustee of TRANSAID Worldwide and chairman of its fund-raising committee, made the visit to see how the charity's funds were being used.

He said: "I was overwhelmed to meet so many committed people working so hard to deliver health care under difficult conditions and with extremely limited resources.

"Most people in Ghana live in remote rural villages, accessible only by rough dirt tracks. Motorbikes are essential for the nurses to access these villages and deliver essential care, while four wheel drive vehicles are needed for moving drugs and essential supplies to the local health centres."

TRANSAID is a small UK charity supported by transport companies who raise funds to help world projects. The charity has worked with the Ministry of Health in Ghana to help develop effective systems for managing and maintaining its vehicle fleet.

Traditionally, the area had been a huge problem for African countries and there are countless stories of vehicles abandoned and broken down after only a few months service.

"The work of TRANSAID has not only enabled vehicles to be maintained and managed effectively under very difficult circumstances, but has also resulted in very significant improvements in the delivery of health services - all service delivery has improved by 100 per cent and in some cases by 400 per cent," said Gary.

It meant, for example, that an additional 90,000 children could be vaccinated against potentially lethal diseases, such as measles and polio, each year.

"Indeed, as the national transport manager Al Hussan told us, without the support of TRANSAID the delivery of health service into the rural communities of Ghana would have ground to a halt several years ago," he said.

Gary added: "I left Ghana extremely impressed that a small UK charity could make such a major impact on so many thousands of lives. It was rewarding to see how the funds raised by transport companies in the UK are making such a difference, and really changing the lives of some of the world's poorest people."

In his role as chairman of the fund-raising committee, Gary has played a key role in recruiting transport companies to support TRANSAID.