The donation was made possible through the partnership of the West Indian Association of Bermuda (WIAB), Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Social Development and the community.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley, thanked the club for its generous donation along with all partners involved.

Honourable Wheatley said, “It was easy to get on board with this initiative. This year’s theme for education is ‘Educating All in Changing Times’ and we are serious in serving the needs of all students in education no matter the circumstance. So I am extremely grateful for the donation for this beautiful school bus that will help students of the centre to access the facilities they need to learn outside of the classroom.”

The centre has been relocated to the Althea Scatliffe Primary School (ASPS) since the 2017 hurricanes and the ministry is in the process of receiving designs for the construction of a new building.

Lions Club Member, Nichola Dunkey said in March 2020, the Lions Club and corporate sponsors Infinite Solutions and Mourants, donated four iPads and a 65-inch Smart TV to the centre. She added that by March, 2020 the club had secured $20,000 from the West Indian Association of Bermuda (WIAB) and the process started to raise the balance of the funds needed to purchase a bus for the centre.

Ms. Dunkey said, “In June 2020, the club approached both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health as possible donors given their official responsibilities for education and social development, both of whom are associated with the centre.”

“Both ministries agreed and by September 2020, the Minister for Education and Health had donated $9,000 and $5,000, respectively which totaled the remaining amount needed to purchase the bus at the negotiated price,” Ms. Dunkey added.

Principal Vansittart Huggins, while thanking donors, gave the assurance that the bus will be in good use as most of the student’s learning is outside of the classroom.

Principal Huggins said, “There is a saying, ‘be careful what you ask for because you might well get it’. So I want to say thank you very much. A bus was always associated with the school since 1972 because it helps students with getting access to needed resources. So this bus will come in handy.”

The centre’s principal said the institution caters for 13 of the centre’s students who are presently at the Althea Scatliffe and Enis Adams Primary Schools and other students with special needs across the Territory.

Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre’s vision is for students to become productive and accepted citizens of the community.