Building Partnerships and Collaboration

The Tourism Enhancement Fund is passionately pursuing leads to build more strategic alliances with NGO’s and Community Based Organizations to consolidate financing for projects and conduct more targeted interventions. Over the past two weeks the TEF has attended workshops both internationally and locally seeking to share the work of the Fund and attract such partnerships.

Recently the TEF attended the Clinton Global Initiative Roundtable discussions to exchange information and gain a better understanding of best practices in the fields of mental health, smallholder agriculture, disaster preparedness and response, renewable energy, workforce development and vocational training.

Locally, the TEF has also been conducting community-based engagements with unemployed youth in the Castries basin and the Cooperative Choice Group (CCG) in Dennery, to share with them the ongoing work the Tourism Enhancement Fund is doing, in building partnerships between Tourism and Agriculture. The outreach is also seeking to raise community participation in some of the programs and offerings of the TEF... Read more here

https://www.clintonfoundation.org/press-releases/president-clinton-convenes-leaders-miami-announces-new-projects-help-islands-impacted

TEF and Rotary Club of St. Lucia sign MoU

The Rotary Club of Saint Lucia and the Tourism Enhancement Fund signed off on a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations to collaborate for the procurement of 270 wheelchairs of assorted types and sizes for donation to persons with disabilities. Under the agreement, The Tourism Enhancement Fund will commit funding of $120,000 EC dollars towards the initiative. The financing will be made available in three tranches, the first of which was presented today to Soraya Warner-Gustave, President of the Rotary Club of Saint Lucia. Among the primary commitments from Rotary will be importation of the wheelchairs, selection of beneficiaries, facilitate discussions to establish a training program for disabled persons to repair/service wheelchairs, thereby generating part-time employment opportunities. The targeted beneficiaries are persons who are unable to walk and who would otherwise be unable to obtain such chairs due to financial constraints, enable mobility of persons with disabilities to undertake employment and provide for their families and encourage independence of recipients thereby restoring or enabling a sense of self-confidence. The hand over of the first tranche of $40,000 EC dollars was made by TEF representatives at a Luncheon organized by the Rotary Club of Saint Lucia. The remaining funds are expected to be handed over by mid-September and mid-October respectively.

Townhall Meeting with DFID

Representatives of the TEF attended a townhall meeting organized by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to participate in a discussion about barriers and opportunities for development in St. Lucia and the wider Caribbean. As part of the UK’s future strategy for the region, the UK Government brought together a range of experts in St. Lucia to seek their views on what the UK should be focusing upon as it starts to design its future programme. Mr. Mark George, the Acting Head of DFID Caribbean facilitated the discussions.

The Department for International Development (DFID) will be running a four-year programme which covers four of DFID Caribbean’s focus countries (Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines). It is aimed at responding to the problems of low growth and high unemployment, particularly among youth. Its objective is to develop relevant market skills among young people in the Eastern Caribbean, promoting youth employment, productivity and inclusiveness (including access for disadvantaged youth / people with disabilities).

With a focus on sectors which have the potential to foster economic growth, the Youth Skills for Economic Growth in the Eastern Caribbean will provide training:

TEF Projects Officer spends the day with Ladera Staff

The Tourism Enhancement Fund Projects Officer Wendel George presented on the work of the fund with staff members of Ladera Resort on Thursday 9th August 2018.

The presentation focused mainly on the projects that have been funded over the past 4 to 5 year, including an overview of how the TEF operates and how funds are disbursed to applicants. The staff members were very pleased with the presentations and surprised to hear of the number of projects being funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

Approximately 60 staff members of the resort benefited from the presentation. The team members also had some ideas of initiatives which can possibly be enrolled for employees as well as persons within the community of Soufriere.

How to apply for a grant from the Tourism Enhancement Fund

Do you have a community-based project which can generate employment, enhance our destination, preserve natural habitats and ecosystems or bridge gaps between Tourism and other sectors? If you do then the TEF would like to hear more about it. The following are the steps you should take to share your interests with us. All forms can be downloaded at http://www.saintluciatef.com/apply-for-grant-donate/