Coral Cay Conservation Trust Wins British Airways Community Volunteering Award
Added to website: 17 July 2003
On the 20th May 2003, in recognition of British Airway employee Richard Simpson’s voluntary work for Coral Cay Conservation (CCC), BA Community Relations Manager Mary Barry, presented Coral Cay Conservation representatives Derek Maule (Chairman of CCC Ltd) and Roger Parr (Chairman of the Trustees of the CCC Trust), with a £1000 BA Community Volunteering cheque. This prestigious event took place at Waterside, BA’s £200 million purpose-built business centre, near Heathrow.
Funded by the airline’s Community Relations Department and the joint UNICEF/British Airways “Change for Good” appeal, the Community Volunteering Awards Programme (formerly “Cheques for Charity”) was developed to recognise and encourage British Airways employees in their charitable work throughout the world. So far more than sixty British Airways staff have been awarded funds ranging from £100 to £9000 on behalf of the charities they have been supporting. Special consideration was given to projects that focus on children, the environment and the development of community partnerships.
Rachael Ward, Manager, Change for Good/UNICEF said: “It is astounding how much personal time BA staff have dedicated to their chosen projects. BA should be extremely proud of the work that they do”.
Funds have been raised for a diversity of causes including: the Sanyu Babies Home in Uganda, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, Kasisi Orphanage in Zambia, the HIV Education and Support Group and the Coral Cay Conservation Trust. The CCC Trust is a UK registered charity (No 1025534) the objectives of which include;
- funding conservation scholarships for local people
- producing education resources for schools in the UK and overseas
- raising awareness of conservation issues through events and displays
- supporting alternative livelihood schemes and other local community projects
Richard Simpson’s (BA Information Technology Project Analyst) first encounter with Coral Cay was as an attendee of a CCC recruitment presentation. Motivated by the accounts of CCC representatives (former Volunteers under the CCC International Representative Scheme), Richard decided to sign up for unpaid leave under the Business Response Scheme (BRS). In March 2002 Richard Simpson, joined the first group of Volunteer scuba divers on what was then a new CCC marine conservation project in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji. Under the supervision of highly qualified CCC field staff, a small group of Volunteers (of which Richard was part) were responsible for setting up the expedition base on Castaway Island and establishing procedures for the project’s survey dives and collation of the resultant data. Richard was so inspired by the work of CCC that on return he submitted a formal application to BA to nominate the CCC Trust for a Community Volunteering Award.
“Spanning two Millennia, British Airways has encouraged and supported conservation efforts worldwide. This additional welcome support to the CCC Trust is just yet one more example of BA’s commitment in reaching out to unite the hands of man and nature” said Peter Raines, Founder & Managing Director of CCC and recipient of the BA Tourism for Tomorrow ‘Global Award’.
To find out more about Community Volunteering Awards programme and for a full list of winners, visit the BA website www.britishairways.com
