AN East Hampshire charity working to develop education in Africa has received a welcome boost.

The Ngorongoro Education Project Tanzania has been awarded non-governmental organisation status in the east African country which, according to a spokesman, is “fantastic news” for the Farringdon-based charity as it is difficult to achieve.

It provides them with further opportunities to develop education in the country, he added.

The project is a small charity that operates in the small village of Wasso in the Loliondo district of northern Tanzania.

With the support and commitment of the local Maasai elders, the Tanzanian Government and the wider community in the Ngorongoro region, the charity is working to “improve the education of a generation of children in the remotest part of east Africa”.

Working with the UK-based Fonthill Foundation, it has already carried out a number of projects, including sending out two containers, providing the initial building materials, furniture, books and resources required to refurbish one of the schools in Wasso.

A team of volunteers recently returned after three months in region. They renovated the classrooms of the Wasso Primary School and worked on transforming the empty shipping containers into a new library.

Now the charity is hoping people can help further by backing a fundraising evening at the Old Thorns Manor Hotel at Griggs Green, near Liphook, on November 13, at 7pm.

Tickets are priced £48 which includes a welcome drink, two-course meal, cheese board and wine, and an evening of live music.

To book tickets, e-mail [email protected] or call Nicky Jarman on 07810 635115.