The Sport for Life Barbados programme has received a $25 000 donation from United Insurance to assist in activities aimed at improving the educational performance and life skills of targeted secondary school students.
The funds were handed over at Kensington Oval, where the project’s volunteer teachers and students between 12 and 14 years old, gather every Saturday for a range of educational activities.
Directors of Sport for Life, Kathy Harper-Hall and Yolanda Alleyne, accepted the support funding from Howard Hall, chief executive officer of United Insurance, and thanked the company for its generous support of the programme despite the difficult times.
“We are really grateful to United. This is a godsend for us as we were not sure if we could continue the programme and United came to our rescue,” said Harper-Hall, a retired teacher.
“This is a very important programme for these children and we don’t want to see it close.”
United’s chief executive praised the efforts of Sport for Life Barbados in seeking to make a difference in the lives of the children who were selected to be part of its remedial programmes.
“We see this as an exciting opportunity to continue our support of young people and the communities which we serve,” said Hall.
“For us, it is a critical part of our corporate responsibility to support programmes like Sport for Life, which has been helping teenagers to overcome challenges and develop important life skills.”
Alleyne also handed over a cheque for $4 000 to the programme, raised from her recent participation in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
According to Harper-Hall, Sport for Life caters annually to close to 50 students in need of assistance to overcome social, emotional, educational or sporting challenges, and who show basic interest in cricket.
The programme embraces the services of volunteers, mainly from the University of the West Indies and the Barbados Community College, who dedicate their Saturdays to helping Sport for Life children improve their performances in mathematics, information technology, reading and basic English, conversational Spanish, cricket and general life skills. (PR)
