THE Marlborough Brandt Group has been part of the town for more than three decades and as it rolls into its 34th year members are focused on getting word out about what the charity does.

The MBG was set up in 1981 by Marlborough residents in response to the 1980 Brandt Report ‘North-South: A Programme for Survival’.

The report by the Independent Commission on International Development Issues, chaired by Willy Brandt, highlighted how the global economy had failed to promote social, economic and humanitarian equality within the developing nation and how those challenges could be globally addressed.

A year later, a link was forged between Marlborough and Gunjur and the group was given charity status.

In 1983 Jane Grenfell, a former head of maths at St John’s School and sixth form student Clare James became the firstMarlborough visitors to go over to the Gunjur, spending a month in the village.

In the same year a student from Gunjur visited Marlborough and since then more than 1500 people from Wiltshire and The Gambia have taken part in the exchange program, staying with local families, contributing to community projects and sharing best educational practices.

The educational arm the group, Wiltshire Global Education Centre, was established in 1993 and is part of the national network of development education centres across the UK.

It uses the group’s experience of Gunjur and The Gambia to provide educational training courses and supports school links – as well as organizing regular teacher study visits to Gunjur.

Following a £400,000 from the National Lottery grant in 1997 the Trust Agency for Rural Development was established - MBG's principle development partner in The Gambia.

People driving along the A4 into Marlborough will be familiar with the signs that recognise Marlborough’s link to the Gunjur which were erected in 2000, followed two years later by signs at the entrances to Gunjur.

The hard work of the group was recognised in 2007 when Department for International Development research revealed that people in Marlborough have a greater understanding of international development than in five similar communities.

Throughout the year, the group holds several fundraising activities including their annual Lent Lecture.

The event is now in its 32nd year and has featured guest keynote speakers including Princess Anne, Lord Kinnock, Clare Short Jon Snow and George Alagiah.

The group is now looking for a deputy director as current director Nick Maurice is looking to take a step back after 33 years and the helm.

He said: “I would hope that they would feel that they would feel that they were part of a visionary organisation, a very different organisation to many others.

“Certainly somebody who feels passionately about what we stand for, somebody who has the ability to communicate what we are doing and it would require somebody who has got management skills who can keep a cohesive body of people together.”