Queen Diamond Jubilee Fund Gives £2 Million to Jamaica

Jamaican charities and youth projects stand to benefit from approximately £2 million or more than J$340 million  from the Queen Diamond Jubilee Fund.

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is a charitable foundation established in 2012 to mark and celebrate the Queen’s 60 years on the Throne and her contribution to the Commonwealth. Its mission is to enrich the lives of people from all backgrounds across the Commonwealth.

The Trust was launched in February 2012 and countries were encouraged to support the initiative and Jamaica contributed £15,000 to the Fund through the Jamaican High Commission in London.

Under the Trust, grants are being awarded to organisations working with young people in selected countries in the Commonwealth, including Jamaica.

High Commissioner, Her Excellency Aloun Ndombet Assamba, said the Queen Diamond Jubilee Fund is an excellent example of one of the benefits of being a member of the Commonwealth.

“Jamaica’s contribution to the Fund was £15,000; however, Jamaica stands to benefit from more than £2 million in funding for a range of programmes and projects that support the development of youth entrepreneurship, young people, youth in agriculture and crime reduction in both rural and urban areas,” she said.

In addition to supporting youth development projects, a major focus of the Trust will be on tackling preventable blindness.

Jamaica will receive  £370,000 as part of the Diabetic Retinopathy Initiative, which will be coordinated by the Caribbean Council for the Blind and will be  carried out in Belize, Dominica and St Lucia, as well as in Jamaica.  A total grant of £1.4 million will be spent on the initiative over the next four years.