Sagicor’s Helping Hands Programme

Bridgetown, Barbados: Regional financial services entity Sagicor has embarked on a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Helping Hands. The initiative will see the company working to uplift three non-governmental organisations (NGOs), following the submission of more than two hundred applications from various charities across the region, during nominations held in June. After a careful selection process, The Deaf Heart Project in Barbados, Servol Life Centres, Trinidad and Tobago and Lake Health and Wellbeing in St. Kitts and Nevis were chosen to work with the insurer until year-end. The programme will see Sagicor lending both tangible and intangible support to the organisations in support of their projects.

Each NGO speaks to one or more of Sagicor’s four CSR pillars of Health, Community and Youth Development, Education and Sport. “The Deaf Heart Project” is a non-profit organisation serving the deaf community in Barbados and across the Caribbean with an aim to aid in the empowerment and development of deaf persons to bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing world, to afford each deaf individual with a better quality of life, while Servol is a community-based social impact agency oriented towards building the capacities of local communities to meet their needs through the development and implementation of various human development programmes. The organisation focuses on early childhood care, life training development via its adolescent development programme (ADP), teacher training (RTRC), education and skills training, and parent support via its Parent Outreach Programme (POP). Finally, Lake Health and Wellbeing is a public health NGO that was founded to tackle the high rate of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in St. Kitts and Nevis. The organisation aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the local, regional, and online community through research, public health interventions, health education events, campaigns and by offering public health services to small organisations.

Speaking on behalf of the company’s President and CEO during the media launch, Sagicor’s Executive Vice President and General Manager for its Barbados operations, Paul Inniss said the organisation was pleased to support NGOs in this way.

“We received hundreds of submissions from organisations that serve all sectors of our Caribbean community. Two things were very apparent: the Caribbean is overflowing with persons whose passion it is to alleviate the pain and suffering of others and there are many individuals and groups in need of support so there is room for everyone to indeed lend a helping hand.”

He added, “NGOs, charities and service organisations do much of the important work needed to move our societies forward and it is often the valiant efforts of regular people who are brave enough to take up the mantle of a cause, a plight or bring awareness to a national or global issue. With initiatives like Helping Hands, Sagicor is desirous of leading and reinforcing the power of generosity in making a difference in the lives of others. We’re excited about this initiative and are hopeful that you will journey with us as we support and help tell the stories of the NGOs we have selected.”

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