British Foundation for UWI Launched
Kingston, September 29, 2009: The British Foundation for the University of the West Indies (BFUWI) was launched last Friday (25-9-09) at the Commonwealth Club, London, England, by the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of the West Indies Alumni Association (UWIAA) UK Chapter.
Hon. David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados; UWI Chancellor Sir George Alleyne; Vice Chancellor & BFUWI Trustee, Prof. E. Nigel Harris along with H.E. Laleshwar Singh, Guyana’s High Commissioner to London & Dean of the Caribbean High Commissioners in the UK, and BFUWI Trustee & President of the UWIAA UK Chapter, Vernon Barrett, addressed the launch event.
Mr. Winston Bayley, BFUWI Trustee; former UWI Chancellor, Sir Shridath Ramphal and Sir Ronald Sanders, Diplomat & Financial Media Advisor, witnessed the launch attended by BFUWI patrons, Commonwealth and Caribbean professionals and Diaspora leaders, members of parliament and British and Caribbean media. The Director, Alumni Relations for UWI, Mrs. Celia Davidson-Francis was also on hand and expressed her delight about the involvement of alumni in the UK with the BFUWI and encouraged UWI graduates to give their full support.
The BFUWI will operate as a professional UK Charity in compliance with the rules and regulations of the governing UK Charities Commission, to raise funds and garner support for the UWI through promotional and relationship building activities principally in the UK. The BFUWI is eligible under UK taxation law for the financial credits arising from Gift Aid Payments.
It is expected, the VC said, that funds raised by the BFUWI will help to:
- Promote and finance undergraduate and post graduate students based on merit and need
- Promote and help finance academic exchanges between the UK and the Caribbean to enhance knowledge development
- Fund chairs at the UWI in specific areas of endeavour
- Help fund facilities to promote human resource and knowledge development
- Finance internships for UK students to study in the Caribbean.
The BFUWI is the second overseas Foundation to be established by the UWI in association with one of its alumni groups. The American Foundation for the University of the West Indies was established in 1956 as a non-profit organization to develop an Endowment Fund in the U.S.A., for the UWI.
UWI Vice Chancellor, Prof. E. Nigel Harris, hailed the launch of the BFUWI as “the cementing of a long standing partnership between our university and Caribbean and British nationals to sustain and develop the UWI.” Noting that the UWI, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, was founded in 1948 as the University College of the West Indies by the University of London with Princess Alice as its patron. Prof. Harris said that in commemorating this anniversary, the UWI and UWIAA UK Chapter collaborated to establish the BFUWI which was officially registered with the UK Charity Commission on January 7, 2009.
Prof. Harris noted that “the UWI is the only pan-Caribbean tertiary institution offering many diverse, accredited programmes across its Caribbean countries to over 40,000 regional and overseas students, preparing them for future careers in the Caribbean region and beyond but cannot realize its full potential because of scarce funds to support students without means as well as to promote the sort of enquiry that post graduate students can contribute to areas of new knowledge that can drive regional development.”