MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands: Standard Chartered Bank donates £12,000 from its Covid-19 assistance fund

In the Falkland Islands, the Bank has partnered with local government to support home learning and independent study

Standard Chartered has announced further details on how the Bank is providing both short-term relief, and longer-term assistance, to communities across its British, European and American markets via the Bank’s recently launched US$ 50 million Covid-19 global charitable fund.

This approach has enabled the Bank to get money out quickly, where it is needed most in the countries we operate in.

In the Falkland Islands, the Bank has partnered with local government to support home learning and independent study for pupils and students age 4 -18 who reside in families who are financially unable to provide a laptop. 

Part of the government’s COVID-19 response plans have been to look at options for young people to study remotely. Schools are adequately resourced with laptops however, some young people and children do not have access to laptops at home due to financial constraints. This impedes their ability to study independently, complete homework and participate in online learning. The donation will address this provision gap.

MLA Stacy Bragger, Portfolio Lead for Education, said: “We’re very pleased to receive this additional support for our students from Standard Chartered Bank. If one thing has become very obvious during the pandemic, it is that our usual sense of community spirit has been heightened, and this is an excellent example of that solidarity in action. Young people across the world have had their education disrupted over many months, so we’re grateful that the bank has identified this as an area where they can help to ensure that students in the Falkland Islands are not left behind. This donation will ensure that, in the event of further lockdown measures, we will be able to provide loan equipment to help our schools maintain online learning activities for their classes.”

Simon Fenton, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Falkland Islands Branch, says: “This crisis has highlighted the need to develop web-based learning on the Islands. At Standard Chartered we have been exploring a number of options and our solution is to work with local government. It allows us to address a most pressing need of the local community in relation to the pandemic.”

“As a global bank, we are committed to supporting not only our clients, but also the communities within which we live. It is at the heart of our promise to be ‘Here for Good’. We are very proud to make this donation and play our part in the fight against coronavirus; we’re all in this together.”