Basil Charles Educational Foundation hands out 17 scholarships and bursaries

The Basil Charles Educational Foundation awarded scholarships and bursaries to 17 students at a ceremony held at Basil’s Bar in Villa on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

Seven of the students received full scholarships, while 10 received bursaries. As part of the programme, the awardees will receive financial assistance from forms one to five.

Founder Basil Charles, said the Foundation started almost three decades ago when he and one of his friends decided to host a Blues Festival on Mustique and on mainland, St. Vincent. He said they agreed to use the proceeds of the events to provide scholarships for economically disadvantaged students. “Since then, we have helped children in many different ways, we took on pre-school and all the other different areas,” Charles said at the ceremony. He said thus far, the Foundation has assisted close to two thousand children.

Charles explained that they will usually ask parents and guardians to provide them with information about their financial background, and then they select the children who they think are most needy, rather than just the students who have the best grades. The scholarships are each valued at $EC 1500.00 and Charles explained that $600.00 is provided to the recipients in the first school term, and $450.00 in the subsequent terms. He also said the Foundation assisted displaced families by providing beds and other necessary items during the COVID-19 pandemic and the volcanic eruptions to make their lives more comfortable. He noted as well that they have assisted preschools by providing cots and meals.

Meanwhile, 2016 Basil Charles Scholarship Awardee, Marika Baptiste, said she is proud of the establishment and the role it plays in aiding students in their academic advancement, and also for all that she has been able to achieve with its support.

The Basil Charles Education Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing crucial scholarships and support to students in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Founded in 1996 by Basil Charles, proprietor of Basil’s Bar Mustique, the Foundation seeks to make quality education accessible to vulnerable children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. (API)