A youth worker has been using the power of reggae to raise funds for a dilapidated orphanage in West Africa.

Mark Samuels — known locally as Natty Mark — has raised more than £400 for the Kumasi Children’s Home in Ghana by putting on a series of events celebrating the sounds of artists Burning Spear, Bim Sherman and Sammy Dread.

Mr Samuels, 45, began organising the events after he visited the orphanage in August with a group of teenagers from The Mish youth club in St Clement’s Street.

He said: “It’s just sad when you hear the children’s stories about how they have been abandoned.

“It hits the heart. It’s tragic. The home is doing the best they can, but they can only do so much.

“It stunned me but it inspired me. I felt I had to do the best I could for the children.”

Mr Samuels spent two-and-a-half weeks at the home, which caters for 200 orphans and disabled children in Ghana’s second city of Kumasi.

While in Ghana he decorated a living area and helped oversee the installation of new showers, a bath and a toilet. The home still has no electricity, but since the visit it has been made waterproof and new beds have been bought and installed.

Mr Samuels’ last fundraising event saw him do a DJ set at the Crown House Club in Crown Street, off Cowley Road, on Saturday, December 27.

He plans to do more gigs in Wales and Witney in the coming two months.

The father-of-two, who lives in Mayfair Road, Cowley, and works as a teaching assistant for Iffley Mead School, said he chose to play reggae music as a large number of Jamaicans could trace their ancestry to Ghana.

He said: “The ethos of reggae music is all about equality. If certain people aren’t getting that, and we can do something to help them, it makes sense we use the music to do that.”

Chris Trent, another youth worker based at The Mish, said Mr Samuels fundraising efforts had formed part of £4,000 already pledged to help the children’s home.

He added: “It is brilliant that Natty is using reggae, which has some of its roots in Ghana.

“Not just because it raises money for the orphanage, but it raises awareness of how privileged we are in our lifestyle while many other people live below the poverty line.”

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk