MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' Consolidated Fisheries launches Charitable Fund

The CFL Charitable Trust, is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of Janet Robertson (Picture - Chair), Sam Davies, Paul Freer, Emily Hancox and John Pollard.

Falklands' Consolidated Fisheries Ltd (CFL) announced this week the launch of a charitable trust formed by the company in 2018 and described as being “for the general benefit of the people of the Falkland Islands.”

The Trust which is to be known as The CFL Charitable Trust, is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of Janet Robertson (Chair), Sam Davies, Paul Freer, Emily Hancox and John Pollard.

A press release issued by the company states that its aims are “to further the education and training of the people of the Falkland Islands and to provide financial relief to people in conditions of need, hardship or distress as a result of national or international disaster or by reason of their social or economic circumstances.”

The Board expects to award up to two grants of no more than £3,000 annually. Where these are for education and training, applications should be made at this time of year, so that the awards can be granted in time to meet financial commitments for the forthcoming academic year.

The Trust’s statement says that it will also “consider providing emergency relief to people who are suffering as a result of disaster anywhere in the world, but especially in countries that are associated in some way with the Falklands.”

As such events cannot be predicted in advance and might arise after the allocation of the proposed maximum for education and training purposes, CFL General Manager, and Chair of the Board, Janet Robertson, told Penguin News that in such a situation the Board would have discretion to exceed the planned budget.

Ms Robertson said that CFL had always made provision for such contingencies in their budget and had, in the past, contributed to disaster relief. Bringing the allocation of disaster aid funds under the control of the Trust was therefore a way of regularising an existing situation.