RIC LEWIS, Executive Chairman of Tristan Capital Partners, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to double the number of young people from under-represented communities it has helped through its Black Heart Scholarship Programme.
The Each Day. Every Day. crowdfunding campaign aims to raise £500,000 from friends, supporters and the general public, which will be matched, pound for pound, by the Board of The Black Heart Foundation, which includes former England Rugby Captain Matt Dawson and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan among its Trustees.
Potential
The Foundation’s Black Heart Scholars Programme was created in 2013 and provides gap-funding for young people who would otherwise not be able to achieve their ambitions or potential through Further or Higher Education.
To date, the Foundation has provided Scholarships to 100 young people, 85% of whom are BAME, and who have studied at 57 academic institutions in the UK, from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Bristol and Loughborough through to the commercial flight school at Aer Lingus and The Urdang Academy of performing arts in London.
The campaign has been launched to accelerate the work that The Black Heart Foundation has been doing for the past 20 years, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Protests
Recent months have seen global protests at racial inequality and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in May.
Lewis, who topped the 2019 Powerlist of Britain’s most influential black people and is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Black Heart Foundation says that the money will go towards doubling the number of Black Heart Foundation scholars from 100 to 200.
At the launch of the fundraising campaign, £66,000 has already been raised towards the target from the Senior Partners of Tristan Capital Partners, the real estate investment management firm Ric founded in 2009, and from longstanding friends and supporters of The Foundation.
Lewis said: “Over the past few weeks, I’ve been asked by a lot of people what they can do to help tackle the issues raised by Black Lives Matter and by COVID-19, which has had a disproportionate effect on BAME communities.
Discussion
“After a lot of reflection and discussion with the Board of Trustees, we have decided to open up the work the Foundation has been quietly and industriously doing each day, every day for the past two decades to the general public, supercharging our new efforts so that we can have an even greater impact on young lives.
Being a Black Heart scholar has provided me with an enormous boost. It has given me funding but also confidence and mentoring. They believed in me and that invaluable support has allowed me to focus fully on my studies. I am now working towards a career as a global leader in healthcare management
Amina Abonde-Adigun
“Today, we are issuing an open invitation to everyone to give whatever they can afford, little or large, to make the change we want in our world. Your money will go directly to help change the lives of young, talented, ambitious people in the UK and we will match every single penny that is raised along the way.”
In June 2020, the Black Heart Foundation reached a huge milestone, awarding its 100th Scholarship to Amina Abonde-Adigun, who is studying for an MSc in Public Health at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a course she had been trying to find a way to finance for four years.
Boost
Abonde-Adigun said: “Being a Black Heart scholar has provided me with an enormous boost. It has given me funding but also confidence and mentoring. They believed in me and that invaluable support has allowed me to focus fully on my studies. I am now working towards a career as a global leader in healthcare management.”
To learn more about the Each Day. Every Day. crowdfunding campaign, or to donate click here or text BLACKHEART5 to 70085 to donate £5 or BLACKHEART10 to 70085 to donate £10
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1 Comment
All of a sudden, the Corporate world wants to allocate substantial sums to assist England’s African-skinned Subjects. This is welcomed and needed.
However, Lee Jasper reported in a Voice letter that only 2 percent of Local Elected Councillors are African-skinned and African and Caribbean heritage. This demonstrates the desperate need for African-skin political leadership is desperately required.
African-heritage people cannot expect liberal Caucasian labour people to be paternalistic and grant African-skin people the Justice from the racism they are seeking.
England’s African Caribbean heritage people need funding to create their own political party and leadership.