DISABLED children in a developing country have a brighter future thanks to four Oxfordshire friends.

A group of fundraisers have opened a special needs school in Uganda, which is thought to be the country's very first.

Mum-of-two Mandy Slater decided to set up the school after an eye-opening trip to the African country in 2006 as part of an Oxfordshire County Council programme to link with Ugandan primary schools.

The 47-year-old said: "I loved the people and the country and was moved by the plight of children with special educational needs.

"Children with special educational needs are unable to access the normal Ugandan education system and are left at home. These children, especially those with mental disability, are often still excluded by society and not considered worth educating.

"I met so many out and about, begging or just sitting around with no hope for the future and it broke my heart. I desperately wanted to help."

Primary school teacher Mrs Slater, who was working at the time at Blewbury Primary School near Didcot, described the teaching style as 'chalk and talk'.

The 47-year-old noted that children as young as six-years-old must pass the school year to move onto the next.

Alongside teachers in Uganda, Mrs Slater and three friends from Abingdon's Christ Church – Kerry Mcleish, Abingdon resident Alex Horlock and Jennie Slatter – were able to set up the Family of Hope school near a town called Buwenge.

They opened in 2014 using two tiny hired classrooms, but this year marked a milestone by moving to their very own purpose-built buildings.

Mrs Slater, who recently moved to Berkshire from her previous home in Didcot, said it was 'amazing' to see their vision come to life thanks to £100,000 of fundraising.

The school teaches 50 children with physical and mental disabilities, as well as children facing extreme poverty, and provides on-site accommodation.

Pupils learn trades such as farming to equip them for future, alongside school curriculum and life skills.

Mrs Slater said: "The famine in East Africa is making life hard for our children and the community, as crops are failing and the cost of food is rocketing.

"Our aim is to provide a safe happy environment for these children to gain a basic education and develop life skills to help them look after themselves in the future.

"We also want to develop a wider acceptance, love and care for them in the community."

The school has just finished fundraising to buy chickens and has launched a new project to buy a cow to provide the children with milk.

Donations are welcome and supporters can sponsor a pupil for a cost of £15 a month.

For more information visit familyofhope.co.uk