Swanage sea skipper Doug Hamlen along with his wife Rose, are helping to change lives in The Gambia, on their annual trip to take medical aid to one of the poorest countries in the world.
Since 2016, backed by fundraisers in Swanage, Dorset, the couple have taken out an ambulance, a Landrover, several wheelchairs, medical supplies, school equipment and much more.
Rose Hamlen, pictured with some of the milk and medical supplies bought by donations from Swanage
Almost £300 raised by shoppers
After arriving in The Gambia Doug, skipper of the Swanage Sea Fishing boat San Gina, sent back a thank you message to town shoppers who raised almost £300 in December 2025 for formula milk, which has now been passed on to a rural orphanage.
Doug and Rose also took school books and pencils to rural schools in The Gambia and checked in on the work being carried out by the vehicles they have funded – a Landrover which rescues people from the sea and an ambulance used as a mobile clinic for fitting prosthetic limbs also taken out from the UK.
Money for 2026’s aid for Africa was collected at Serendipity Nails and Hair in Commercial Road, along with donations from visitors to Swanage who Doug helps out by using his metal detector to find lost jewellery and keys.
In 2025, the list of those he helped included BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman, who lost her grandmother’s wedding ring in the surf at Swanage.
Doug and Rose booked tickets out to The Gambia with Air Portugal, who allow up to 35 kg of luggage, including a wheelchair – and Doug has also been known to pack the pockets of his fisherman’s gilet with so many extras that it weighs up to 10 kg itself.
Babies being fed by volunteers at the Wullinkamma Arribaja clinic
“Africa gets under your skin”
Doug Hamlen said:
“We first came to The Gambia for our honeymoon in February 1989, and went back in 2014 for our 25th wedding anniversary – and read on Tripadvisor that we could get a 10 kilogram charity luggage allowance each from Thomas Cook free of charge.
“That’s how it all started – we heard about a nurse who would buy second hand baby clothes with her own money to make sure babies who would have none, went home with something and after a successful appeal on Facebook we ended up with a case full of newborn and first size baby clothes.
“They say that Africa gets under your skin, and it certainly did for us – we have been back every year since except for the Covid seasons.
“In 2016 we took my son, my daughter and her fiance out with us, so this meant we had 50 kilograms of charity luggage space to use, and as people put us in touch with different charities we learned about the humanitarian group Foni and Beyond.”
The ambulance bought by Doug and Rose is now in use as a mobile clinic to fit prosthetic limbs
Doug, pictured left, handing over the latest wheelchair which will be used by a Gambian ferry
“I raised £3,500 to buy an ambulance”
Doug added:
“They raised funds to transport vehicles, like ambulances, to The Gambia for use as mobile clinics in remote areas, so seven years ago I had my head shaved and raised £3,500 in total to buy an ambulance.
“A group of four of us drove four ambulances down to The Gambia six years ago, along with a Landrover I purchased with some of my late brother’s inheritance, which is now used as a sea rescue unit equipped with a defib and other aids such as throw lines, recovery boards and thermal blankets.
“The ambulance my lovely wife Rose and I bought was to be used by Foni and Beyond as a mobile clinic, but that project sadly ended after a few years due to illness of the founder.
“So we then handed the ambulance to Legs for Africa – now known as Stand, We Walk Together – which recycles prosthetics that would usually be put to landfill in the UK, and uses the ambulance as a mobile clinic and fitting workshop.”
A Landrover provided by Doug and Rose is now in use as a sea rescue response vehicle on the Atlantic coast
Del Dallimore, in orange, second from right, runs the clinic for orphaned babies full time
A very short life expectancy
The couple has been visiting the Wullinkamma Arribaja clinic, run by Del Dallimore in a little village near the Atlantic coast, for the past six years, after they learned of the work she does to look after orphaned babies.
They are currently caring for 27 babies, with numbers increasing all the time – including two sets of twins and a baby with Downs Syndrome brought into the clinic on Friday 2nd January 2026, a week before Doug and Rose arrived.
Although orphan babies are taken in by extended family members, often grandparents, they frequently struggle to feed themselves in one of Arfica’s poorest countries, and disabled babies have a very short life expectancy unless clinics like Del’s help out.
The clinic supports carers as there is little or no help from the country’s government, and as there is a high mortality rate among women giving birth or just afterwards, the number of babies needing help to survive just keeps on growing.
Rose lends a hand to help with the orphaned babies when she visits the clinic each year
Doug in summer 2025, reuniting BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman with her grandmother’s wedding ring in Swanage
“We want to thank all who donated”
Doug Hamden said:
“In 2024, the Swanage community helped when we appealed for formula milk to take out with us, raising more than £100.
“In 2025, Debbie Fenton of Serendipity asked us if we would like to put a collection tin there, which helped raise towards a total of £285, meaning we could buy 61 tins of milk, some sanitary products and school items.
“We really want to thank all the friends, family and strangers who donated last year, including donations from jewellery and key recoveries with the metal detector – usually the smile I put on someone’s face is payment enough, but some people insist on donating and if they do, this is where it goes.
“We also got two wheelchairs, so one has gone up in the loft for next trip, and we also take school uniforms which we usually buy from supermarkets’ sale rails, as well as some early learning wooden puzzles, counting and ABC things that we pick up from charity shops.”
Pencils and school books ready to be distributed to rural schools
“An eye opener when you see poverty”
Doug added:
“This year one lady gave us some money to spend on exercise books and pencils – we pick up pens and pencils at charity shops at the right price, but exercise books can weigh heavy and are cheaper to buy out here in The Gambia.
“We are taking those on to some rural schools in the next few days. It’s an eye opener when you see the poverty at first hand – when you watch news programmes, it all seems so far away.
“The folk are so grateful for any help no matter how small – as they say in The Gambia, it’s nice to be nice.”
“An eye opener when you see poverty at first hand”
Further information
- The work of the Wullinkamma Arribaja clinic is described on Facebook
- Help support Stand – We Walk Together – online
- More updates on Doug’s Facebook page
