VIDEO: Carlisle Bay Hotel and visitors help Barbuda

A couple from England, who has been visiting Antigua and Barbuda for 25 years, has started a collection for Barbudans at Carlisle Bay Hotel Resort.

Trevor and Jane Brown said they felt compelled to do something because they consider Antigua and Barbuda their home away from home.

The couple, who had prior to hurricane Irma booked a visit to Antigua, said when they heard of the news, they were sympathetic and immediately thought of ways they could help.

Jane said she got her Keep Fit class involved. “I said I have this idea of bringing t-shirts for all the people on Barbuda because clothes are something that they need.  From then on, at Keep Fit, I was getting t-shirts and we went home and sorted them. And that’s how it grew.”

The couple arrived on island in November, with two boxes filled with clothes which they had collected from Jane’s exercise studio and close friends and neighbours back home in Henfield, West Sussex.

“I think one of the important things is that when we see people in trouble, as obviously the people of Barbuda were, are that we can find ways to actually help, and I think this was a practical way that Jane thought of to do just that,” her husband Trevor, told Antigua Newsroom.

“I think the other thing is that if you go back several weeks it was news, it’s no longer news and yet Barbuda is still basically devastated and therefore anything that will continue to touch people’s heart, particularly back home, hopefully keeps it in memory and also more help will come from that as well,” he added.

The management at Carlisle Bay has also initiated a small charity fund, where guests at the resort are encouraged to contribute money to help with Barbuda’s recovery.

Director of Rooms at Carlisle Bay, Deone Maxime said they have so far collected US $1,000 from the hotel’s initiative.

Maxime said, the hotel is also hoping to partner with the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) to lend their services and to contribute cleaning supplies to help the clean-up process.

“What we’re looking at is having a group of team members from Carlisle Bay go over to Barbuda, and we want it to be a continuous thing that we do, go over and does charity work,” she explained.

Antigua Newsroom has a full interview on the initiative by Jane and Trevor Brown as well as interviews with the NTTC Shelter Supervisor Samantha Burnette, Head of the NTTC Clothing Department Francoise Bowen, Director of Rooms at Carlisle Bay Deonne Maxime and two Barbudan women.

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