IT’S an exhibition of photography designed to showcase all sides of Portsmouth.

Pompey Saturdays: Father and son after a match

Pompey Saturdays: the Shepherd's Crook pub near Fratton Park

Southsea Sundays: scooters on Southsea seafront

Andrew Malbon, from St Jude’s Church, Southsea, will exhibit two sets of his contemporary photos featuring some of the defining experiences of living in the city.

His black-and-white photos showing ‘Pompey Saturdays’ get to the heart of what it feels like to roll up at Fratton Park full of expectation on a match-day – and the emotions generated by the result.

And his colour photos uncovering ’Southsea Sundays’ showcase the beauty and vitality of a sunny day on the seafront.

Both contrasting sets of images will be on display – and for sale – at St Jude’s Church, Kent Road, Southsea, from 9am-5pm each day from April 16-30. The two-week exhibition will be launched at an event from 7pm-9pm on Saturday (April 16).

It is designed to raise funds for a group of 18 adults and teenagers who are giving up 10 days of their holiday this summer to help decorate a school in Ghana.

The group, who have called themselves ‘Project G’ come from Church of England churches across the city of Portsmouth. They’ll be heading off for a life-changing trip to Ghana in July, decorating a classroom for children who have special needs.

They will visit St George’s Anglican School campus in the Diocese of Ho, in eastern Ghana, as part of the long-standing links between Portsmouth’s Church of England diocese, and the Anglican dioceses in Ghana.

Andrew, who works as an architect for Portsmouth City Council said: “I know some of the teenagers from our church who are going to Ghana, and I’m sure it will be a real eye-opening trip for them – to see African culture at close quarters and to explore how the Christian faith is expressed there.

“I wanted to help out, and thought one way to do it would be to sell some of the photos that I’d taken.

“I’ve lived in Portsmouth since I was at university here, and I’m only a few hundred yards away from Fratton Park. You can see the expectation in the faces as the fans walk to the ground, and you can feel the elation or despair as they pour out again at the end. I wanted to capture that emotion.

“Portsmouth also has a fundamental relationship with the sea, which is best expressed for me in the colour, vitality and peacefulness of Southsea seafront. I’ve tried to capture some of the details that make the scenery come alive for me.”

The Project G team of adults and teenagers will be led by Rachel Duff and Fran Carabott from St Jude’s, who have already been to Ho to map out the project in advance.

Rachel, who is children, youth and family ministry co-ordinator at St Jude’s Church, said: “It is very unusual for there to be provision for children with special needs in a school in Ghana, so we want to make this classroom as attractive as possible.

“We plan to be decorating each morning and then when school finishes at 2pm, we’ll be offering sports and games to any of the children who want to stay on.”

The Project G team are fundraising for the cost of their trip, and have already raised £17,000 by making and selling cakes to fellow worshippers, sponsored events such as an abseil off Spinnaker Tower and a bike ride, and via stalls on the Love Southsea market in Palmerston Road.

Eleanor Ferris, aged 15, from St James Church, Milton, said: “It is a really good opportunity to grow our faith, to see their faith, and to help people there. I’m interested in finding out about the culture, which will help us to appreciate more what we have here.”