Sandals Foundation celebrates 15 years with party for UK donors

LONDON:

Sandals Foundation, the non-profit charitable arm of Sandals Resorts International, marked 15 years of its existence with a huge celebratory party for its many donors in the UK earlier this month ,to thank them for their continued support.

The foundation’s chief executives, Heidi Clarke, executive director, and Karen Zacca, operations director, along with Adam Stewart, executive chairman of Sandals Resorts International and president of the foundation, were on hand to announce a year-long campaign titled Empower 15, to commemorate the anniversary.

Stewart also used the opportunity to mention the recent opening of the resort group’s newest property, Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which welcomed its first guests at the end of March, to become the ninth Caribbean destination and the 18th resort in Sandals’ portfolio.

Among the guests at the party held at the Sandals Store in south Kensington, London was the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines High Commissioner to the UK Cenio E. Lewis, who cited the huge opportunity for the island’s tourism growth because of Sandals’ coming into the market.

Addressing the audience, which included tourist boards executives, tour operators, travel and airline partners, among a host of other industry representatives, Stewart spoke of the vision his father, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, who founded Sandals in 1981, had for the foundation.

He said: “Fifteen years ago, I watched my father did as much as he could do to give back. He did an amazing amount of goodwill without any fanfare or grandeur, and it was this vision of helping others that we came up with the idea of a foundation that could connect our customers and international partners to make a real change in the Caribbean.

“There is a lot of good in the world, and the foundation provided the opportunity to show people legitimately how they could play a part in highlighting this.

“I am extremely proud to say that, since it was formed, the Sandals Foundation has contributed over US$100m of value into the Caribbean since March 2009, and we are now at a reflection point where we are doing things so extraordinary that we had to celebrate here in the UK.

“The way the foundation runs, with all administrative costs covered by Sandals Resort International, allows for 100 per cent of every dollar raised to go directly towards funding impactful initiatives under the Sandals Foundation’s three core pillars - education, community and the environment in the Caribbean. That’s a very good principle to begin with, and we are proud of what we have achieved and the work we still have to do.”

SUSTAINABLE SOLAR ENERGY

Clarke spoke of the successful partnerships the foundation has forged with groups like the King’s Trust International, on the Team programme, to create new opportunities for young people in Barbados and Saint Lucia, React (formerly Team Rubican UK), which assists with disaster preparedness in the region, and Clear Caribbean, for coral conservation and farming, all of which had representatives at the event.

She also had special praise for the UK staff of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, who had organised and completed a challenging 100-kilometre charity race around Antigua, which raised over £100,000 for the foundation.

She said: “The funds which the team had raised went to the neonatal and paediatric units at the Lester Bird Hospital in Antigua, and the team were able to visit the hospital and see the impact that their donation and effort was able to contribute, in purchasing the well-needed live-saving equipment.

“Some of the funds also went towards the SickKids Caribbean Initiative programme, which the foundation has supported for the last 10 years, helping to secure much-needed medical equipment and resources for paediatric healthcare, to improve the lives of Caribbean children diagnosed with cancer and blood disorders.”

The foundation’s executive director also gave details of the year-long campaign, titled Empower 15, to commemorate the anniversary and to continue its investment in education.

She said: “Part of the Sandals Foundation mission is to provide access to quality education. We have been working with local schools, not just to build them, train teachers and introduce new technology into the classroom, but to see how resilient they are within an environment that is functional and inspirational to the children.

“The Empower 15 project will harness the strength of the Caribbean sun to bring sustainable solar energy to Caribbean schools, ensuring a much-needed power supply that allows for learning in the critical digital space to continue uninterrupted. Providing access to a reliable and cost-efficient energy source will put Caribbean children at an advantage,” Clarke said.

Speaking after the presentations, High Commissioner Cenio E. Lewis said: “Tourism is a substantial part of the economy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Sandals Resort’s presence will encourage more tourists to visit the country. At the Sandals Resorts, excellent service and facilities await the visitor, who will also experience the beauty of the islands, the culture and the warmth of the people.”

Karl Thompson, managing director for Unique Vacations UK Ltd which represents Sandals Resorts International in the UK, was the master of ceremonies for the evening. He conducted an auction of items which raised over £15k for the foundation on the night.