It’s the time of year when professional footballers understandably start thinking about their summer holidays.

The finishing line at the end of a long, hard season is in sight, although fans of some clubs may think that their players are already on their holidays – mentally if not physically!

Two of Cheltenham Town’s players – Kevin Dawson and Sean Long – will be jetting out of the country later this month, but unlike a lot of 20-somethings they won’t be heading for holiday hot-spots like Ibiza, Torremolinos or the Algarve.

Quite the opposite in fact because they will be flying to Sierra Leone in West Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world, where they will spend a week coaching a team of footballers in Kambia.

They have offered their services on behalf of the Kambia District Foundation, a foundation that was set up by husband and wife Simon and Jen David and one which does so much good for so many people in that part of the world.

Jen, 50, a trained nurse of many years standing, has been going out to Africa for the past 11 years – initially to Rwanda and Malawi – and she set up the Kambia District Foundation with her husband, a solicitor, in 2016.

It is a charity which aims to improve the education and health of children in the Kambia District in Sierra Leone.

Simon and Jen live in the heart of Cheltenham and the Kambia District has had close links with the town for a while now because the team that Cheltenham players Dawson and Long are going to be coaching are actually called Cheltenham Town.

“Two doctors from Cheltenham who are both retired now – David Holmes and Richard Kerr-Wilson – took some Cheltenham Town shirts out a few years ago and the team decided to call themselves Cheltenham Town,” explained Jen, who has become a big supporter of the team.

“For us, it’s all about health and education and sport comes under that remit.”

The Kambia District Foundation now supports the football team financially with Jen adding proudly: “Twelve of the 14 players are now sponsored.”

So what can Dawson and Long expect when they go out there in just under a couple of weeks’ time?

“Their football skills are amazing,” said Jen. “They play in a league and they are right up near the top.

“They are heroes to their supporters and they have their own fan club.”

As many as 10,000 fans go to the games – 350,000 people live in the town of Kambia – although as you would imagine the match-day experience is nothing like in this country.

“Matches are played on a field covered with stones and people stand round the edge and watch,” said Jen. “There’s no stand and the police are there to make sure no one runs onto the pitch.”

And although it’s very different to what they’re used to in this country, Jen, who goes out to Sierra Leone three or four times a year, is delighted to be involved.

“When we first started going, the players couldn’t afford boots,” she explained. “They used to play in plastic shoes before we took out 12 pairs of second-hand boots for them.”

That was a massive step forward, of course, as will be the coaching they receive from Dawson and Long.

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” continued Jen. “It’s really, really exciting. It’s a dream to get the footballers over, it’s huge.

“They are giving up a week of their time and they’re going into an environment they know nothing about.

“It’s a tough environment. There’s the heat, the humidity, the horrible spiders and the malaria.

“But they will come back having gained even more than they have given, they will come back enriched from the experience.”

Jen and Simon David have certainly done their bit to enrich the lives of people living in Kambia District and their work has been recognised because both of them have been made chiefs – their chief names are Chief Pa Komrabi Simon Masama and Chief Yellamamy Jen Masama.

They are currently building a secondary school having already built a primary school that educates 400 youngsters from the ages of four to 11.

“Life is very tough for the people out there,” said Jen. “There is 70 per cent unemployment and life expectancy is 52.

“The average salary is 50 dollars a month and the literacy rate is about 48 per cent.”

But while life is very difficult, the country is nonetheless in a better place than it used to be.

“There was a big war that finished in 2002,” continued Jen. “It went on for 11 years and lots and lots of people lost their lives.

“Things are very peaceful now, it’s much better. There are lots of Muslims and Christians living together and the children take part in both Muslim and Christian prayers at school in the mornings.”

That’s great news, of course, as is the incredible work being done by Jen and Simon David, who are flying out to Sierra Leone for two weeks on 9th May.

Dawson and Long will be there for a week from 12th May.

And there was more good news for the Kambia District Foundation because a recent quiz night at Cheltenham Town Football Club, compered by Chris Coley, raised £2,500.

For more information about the foundation or to make a donation, call Jen David on 07761 133433, email jendavid@outlook.com or visit www.kambiadistrictfoundation.com