PUPILS from Pewsey Vale School will be heading to The Gambia after winning a competition to come up with a business plan that would benefit people living in the Gunjar.

The Victoria islands business (VIBE) Challenge is organised by the Marlborough Brant Group (MBG) and was made up of two rounds judged by a panel of experts.

The first round involved coming up with a business plan for a company on a fictitious island within a set budget.

For the final the five pupils, who are in year 10, had to create a business plan for a company in Gunjar, The Gambian village that MBG is linked with.

Group member Max Knight said: “At first I thought it would be a fun thing to do with my friends and then as we started working on it I began to think that we might be able to win it.”

Robert Boyce, who also worked on the project, added: “It’s been very interesting, it was quite a lot of work but we’ve learnt a lot.”

They came up with a durable, waterproof roof tiles created by meting down old plastic bags, adding sand and leaving them to cool in a mould.

Teammate Andrew Gray said: “We’re really pleased with the idea because shredded plastic bags can be found all over the Gunjar so it will help clean up the area.”

Charlie Stephen’s added: “It’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

In October they will head out to The Gambia for seven to ten days to setup the business, which they have called Poly-Silica Solutions, and show people local people how to make the tiles.

Poly-Silica Solutions member Max Young said: “I didn’t think we would win it but now we have it’s like a dream come true.”

The boys spent more than 50 hours working on the idea lead by Pewsey Vale teacher Fiona Burke.

She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled, they really deserve it.

“The panel thought the idea was amazing.”

The budding entrepreneur’s trip will be funded by the MBG and they will be given £500 to help start up their business.