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Incoming Managing Director and CEO??of Republic Bank, Ian De Souza,??presenting Chairperson, Margaret Hope, with the cheque for the??Arnott Cato Foundation. (C. Pitt/BGIS)????

The Ministry of Social Care and the Republic Bank of Barbados Limited may soon be ???holding hands’ to provide assistance to vulnerable persons across the island.

This was underscored by Minister Steve Blackett, during his address at the launch of the Bank’s Power to Make a Difference 2012 Social Outreach Programme, at the Island Inn Hotel, yesterday.

Pointing out that the Bank was "thinking along the same lines" as the Ministry, the Minister noted that the two entities could "put [their] heads together" to create social renewal in Barbados.

"We must be able to identify and assess the cases for assistance, stabilise those individuals that require immediate stabilisation in the area of their primary needs, go about enabling them to transit from one level of existence to a higher level, and finally to empower them to invest in themselves…We are working assiduously on this at the Ministry and it is heartening to know that there is a capable partner out there," Minister Blackett stated.

He lauded the organisation for implementing the Power to Make a Difference programme which is designed to enrich the lives of vulnerable persons with the aim of having a lasting social impact, and he noted that it "fits in well with the view of [his] Ministry".

"At the end of the day our social programmes and services must translate into true social empowerment and the upliftment of individuals that is sustainable, and which reaches across generations to eradicate poverty in all of its expressions," Mr. Blackett reasoned.

The Social Care Minister gave the assurance that there would be a meeting with his Ministry and the Bank in the near future to discuss the creation of further social development programmes.

During the launch, 14 organisations which assist vulnerable persons in the society received cheques to aid the further development of their initiatives.

sharifa.medford@barbados.gov.bb

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