The Anguilla Social Security Board is spending an overall sum of US$31,000 in sponsorships for a number of events of the 2019 Anguilla Summer Festival.
The prize money was distributed at a press conference on Tuesday, July 16. The sponsorship cheques were presented by the Social Security Board’s Public Relations Officer, Ms. Rosanna Browne to the chairpersons of the various sub-committees of the Anguilla Summer Festival.
The Social Security Board’s sponsorship contributions are as follows:
• Champion of Champion Boat Race : US$14,200
• Parade of Troupes :US$10,000
• Miss Anguilla Pageant three contestants : US$3,000 (US$1,000 each); plus US$1,000 for the reigning Miss Anguilla (Mikeela Skellekie) to participate in the 58th Miss Jaycees Pageant in St. Kitts
• The Parade of Troupes : US$10,000
• Prince & Princess Show (the amount of sponsorship not fully calculated as Social Security will be purchasing prizes for all 12 participants from the balance of US $ 2,800).
Speaking at the opening of the press conference, Ms. Rosanna Browne told the gathering that the Social Security Board had become involved in the Summer Festival as the event was considered to be an integral part of the island’s culture and was a great contributor to the economy.
Mr. Carlyle Franklin, the Acting Director of Social Security, said the Social Security Board was proud to be a Summer Festival sponsor. He noted that the theme of this year’s festival was “Beach, Boats & Bacchanal”, and extended an invitation to families and friends abroad to come to Anguilla to join in the celebrations.
Ms. Avon Carty, the newly-appointed Director of the Department of Youth and Culture, was delighted with her Department’s continued participation in the Summer Festival in an oversight capacity. “My role is just to say how much we would like to thank the Anguilla Social Security Board. I think we all recognise that with our small community, and small economy, our Government and agencies cannot do everything that is required. We have a very demanding population which has every right to demand the things it sees and experiences elsewhere.
“It is these sorts of relationships with our corporate friends and sponsors that make it possible for us to be able to build on all the years of effort, sweat and pain that have been put in by our predecessors. I believe that our Summer Festival is going from strength to strength, and it is through the support and partnership of organisations like the Anguilla Social Security Board that we are able to hold the Summer Festival.”
Chairperson of the Anguilla Summer Festival, Ms. Lisa Rey, also thanked Social Security for its continued sponsorship of a number of events. “Every year we tend to enter the Summer Festival very optimistic with our limited funds – and ever so often we end up waiting for our sponsors to come on board,” she stated. “We never had to wait for Social Security. They have always been the ones to come to us to offer their support, and we are grateful for that.”
Other speakers included members of the sub-committees of the Summer Festival who presented progress reports on their separate events.
Apart from the Social Security Board, other members of the business community, and the Summer Festival Committee, have provided sponsorship for several other Summer Festival events. It is known that the Government of Anguilla has approved EC$890,000 for the overall festival. The Festival Committee is assisting with the funding of the August Monday Beach Party, at Sandy Ground, in the amount of EC$100,000.
