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Created by brothers, Abraham Ceesay and Yusupha Ceesay, in 2002, the group was established to help support Mandinari immigrants and their children living in Wakefield.

Mandinari is a village in the western region of The Gambia, West Africa. As of 2020, there are around 36,000 Gambian-born people living in the UK.

Community members from across West Yorkshire and even further abroad, from Switzerland, Germany, and Spain, attended the momentous event, with Councillor Mohammed Ayub for Wakefield East honoured as the special guest.

Members of the Mandinari Citizens in the UK (MCUK) organisation came together to mark the 20 year anniversary of the group.

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Abraham Ceesay said: “My brother and I had a conversation about 21 years ago to form a group for the Mandinari community living in Wakefield, to help them with any immigration problems, issues with their tenancies, or paying for repatriation to Gambia for people if they pass away, and things like that.

"We’ve expanded it since then and we celebrated our 20 year anniversary this weekend just gone. We were supposed to celebrate it last year but it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It was a brilliant and diverse event, we had a football game, a bouncy castle for the kids, and entertainment inside the building including a DJ and drummers.”

Councilor Mohammed Ayub with members of the MCUK, Abraham Ceesay (on the right), Mustapha Cham and Aluie Saidykhan.

MCUK boasts a membership of about 40 people living in Wakefield and another 30 around the UK and abroad.

And the group also held a minute of silence for the community members they have lost over the years.

Wakefield's Gambian community celebrates 20 year anniversary of Mandinari Citizens in UK group