BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (July 29, 2016) -- The Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis recently marked an important milestone, its 35th anniversary, and activities to celebrate this achievement were spread across a two-week period in the months of May and June.
On Friday May 27 the bank held business fairs, one in St. Kitts at the Independence Square in Basseterre and the other in Nevis at the D.R. Walwyn Square in Charlestown. The bank’s clients and one or two non-bank clients were given the opportunity to showcase their businesses and this they did with a lot of pride.
According to Mr Lockhart Alleyne, Business Support Technical Officer at the Development Bank, the business fair was the third in a series which form part of the bank’s outreach effort to promote its business clients. Ms Asha Julius, CEO of One Stop Party Spot, is one of the ten Fresh Start Programme beneficiaries on St. Kitts who took part and put on display the new equipment she had bought.
The last activity, sports and fun day for board and staff members and their families, was held on Saturday June 4 at the Frigate Bay Pasture. Special arrangements had to be made to occupy the children while their parents were involved in the various sporting events.
“Keeping the energetic children constructively engaged is always a challenge,” opined Ms Danienne Brin, the bank’s Manager for Human Resources. “We would have held such activities in the past and we knew what makes them properly engaged and as a result we knew what they needed and we were ready to do it this year.
“However, this year we did not have to go out to great lengths to cater for the children as one of the bank’s clients specialising in catering had approached the bank with the intention of getting a business loan to expand her business to include entertainment for children. She is one of the over 200 successful persons who obtained Fresh Start Programme loans.”
Ms Brin explained that after a client is offered a business loan, the bank through its Business Support Unit ensures that the business has a flawless operation. In this respect, it was only natural that the bank gave business to one of its own, and hence Ms Asha Julius was asked to provide the services required and she did a good job in keeping the children happy.
Based on the exposure Ms Julius received during the business fair, and to a lesser extent at the Development Bank’s sports and fun day, she was able to host a successful summer camp for over 75 children aged 3-11 at the St. Johnston’s Community Centre in Basseterre. She has vowed to make it an annual event.
“That the very first summer camp I organised for children was a success I owe it to the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Ms Asha Julius, CEO of One Stop Party Spot. “The bank invited me to take part in the business fair at the Independence Square, and I decided to take part as that would help to expose my business.
“I had my equipment in the square and the parents came and they had their children using the tarpaulins and the other games and they said, you don’t do stuff for the kids or anything like that and others asked me if I would be doing anything for the summer.”
Some parents went as far as giving her their contact numbers, and inspired by their enthusiasm she returned to the Development Bank where she explained to officers at the Business Support Unit that she had been challenged by parents to host a summer camp and that she was going to do it.
After she made all the necessary arrangements, she approached Development Bank’s General Manager, Mr Lenworth Harris, and asked for assistance in holding the camp. He was quite impressed by her idea, and he offered to assist her as a Gold Sponsor.
The two-week summer camp came to an end on Friday July 22, and representing the Development Bank at the closing ceremony was Mr Lockhart Alleyne, the bank’s Business Support Technical Officer.
“The Sponsorship that we got from the Development Bank, a gold sponsor, assisted us with 95% of the cost of the t-shirts the kids are wearing right now,” said Ms Julius at the closing ceremony. “We had initially planned to cater for 50-60 to children, and if the number had stayed there, the Development Bank would have funded for the all the t-shirts.”
She explained that since more children came they ended up sponsoring for their t-shirts. Other sponsors who came on board included TDC, RAMS, Best Buy, Domino’s Pizza, KFC, Neville’s Eatery and Deb’s Eatery at Rams Food Court. She also gave special thanks to teachers who assisted in the teaching aspect of the camp.
“During the Development Bank’s sports and fun day I was on board willing to help as usual and the kids really had a good time,” said Ms Julius. “Mr Harris (the General Manager) thanked me and some other members of the Development Bank also thanked me for being there.
“The Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis really supports my business, and asking me take part in the business fair was one of the many ways. I cannot shy away from saying that Development Bank and its staff have really been great at supporting my business and helping me to advertise, help me to grow to get to the level where I want to get to.”
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