TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2025 (HAMILTON, BERMUDA)
The Bermuda Foundation granted almost $400,000 in unrestricted funding to the community in its 2023/24 financial year. These competitive grants, combined with donor-advised giving delivered almost $4 million to the charitable sector over the year.
Key areas to have benefited from the Foundation’s unrestricted grant-making/total donations in the past year were:
• Educational enrichment and access to higher education efforts totalling $105,000.
• Youth development, human and family-based services – $132,000.
• Housing programmes were allocated $25,000
• Mental Health programming in the form of counselling, drug treatment and socio-emotional learning received a funding boost of $50,000.
Grants were made to 52 nonprofit organisations in 2024, including:
• Peer Forward for its high schools programme
• Adult Education School’s GED and college and career readiness programmes
• Age Concern (Bermuda) programmes for seniors
• Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning’s Experiential Learning Programme
• home’s Housing First targeted prevention programme
• C.A.R.E. Computer Services Alternative Education programme
• The Family Centre’s Intensive Counselling Services
• Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda’s small home projects for families living in unsafe conditions
• Open Airways programming for asthma awareness and support
• Shift’s PATHS and Life Skills Training
• Tomorrow’s Voices – Bermuda Autism Early Intervention Centre “
• United World Colleges Bermuda scholarship
• BC Village’s awareness and advocacy for LGBTQIIA students’ right to a safe and equitable educational environment
• Bermuda National Debate Team – Worlds 2024 Attendance
• Bermuda National Gallery 2024 Community Outreach
• Bermuda School of Music programmes
• Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute Eco-Schools Bermuda and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bermuda programmes
• Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda’s capacity building for growth & sustainability
“A major issue for philanthropy today is our community’s significant dependence on charitable giving,” says Dr Myra Virgil, Bermuda Foundation CEO and Managing Director. “For the past few years, with economic downturns and the pandemic, demand for nonprofit services has risen significantly, notably in such crucial areas as housing, education, food insecurity, mental health and the aging population.
“The Foundation was established to build a community asset that could eventually provide some financial stability to address needs in the community, but after only 10 years of operation we are not there yet.
“On a positive note, due to the challenges facing our community – from mental health, gangs and drugs to inequality, poverty and climate change – the key issues have been brought to the forefront of the national agenda. In the past, activism in some of these areas has been dismissed and, at times, demeaned. Today most people would agree that we can’t live safely in a place that doesn’t aspire to the wellbeing of all, which includes residents having access to the basics for a safe life.
“Agreement on what the issues are means professionals working in these fields can put more attention towards remedying the problem itself, rather than justifying the need for support. When talking to community funders the Foundation is able to focus directly on aligning their areas of interest with the quality of services offered, not validating the actual need.”
The Foundation’s audited accounts can be found here. Details on the grantees and distributions can be found under “Our Impact – Programme”. Families or individuals interested in setting up their own permanent charitable giving funds to improve Bermuda can learn more about donor-advised philanthropy here.
About the Bermuda Foundation
The Bermuda Foundation (BF) is a limited liability and segregated accounts company, registered as Bermuda charity #948. Its mission is to create an enduring source of funds forever dedicated to the good of Bermuda. BF improves and strengthens Bermuda’s social sector by assisting donors of all kinds to make the most of their generosity. As a public grantmaking foundation, its resources go towards creating a permanent asset base for the public benefit by stewarding and investing charitable gifts from the community, grantmaking, and responsibly managing its operations. BF was founded in 2013 by The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Buchanan Charitable Fund and RenaissanceRe with support from private donors and nonprofits that established their own endowed agency funds to be managed at the foundation. Bloomberg Philanthropies, Hemera Foundation, Allan & Gill Gray Foundation, AxaXL Foundation, and Meritus Trust Company also made key contributions. BF benefits from the professional support of Conyers Dill & Pearman and from PwC who conduct its annual audit.