Calling all Bermuda schools: $10,000 Butterfield x Protect Our Future climate action grant

by Emirates GBR SailGP Team 11 Apr 2024 18:57 BST

Butterfield has partnered with Emirates GBR SailGP Team's Purpose Partner, the 1851 Trust, as the Official Bermuda Impact Partner for their Protect Our Future schools programme taking place alongside the Bermuda SailGP event this coming May.

Together they will deliver climate education lessons for local schools with a $10,000 Butterfield x Protect Our Future Climate Action Grant on offer.

Launched in 2014 by Sir Ben Ainslie and supported by HRH Princess of Wales as its Royal Patron, the 1851 Trust is a specialist education charity that harnesses the power of athletes and sport to inspire young people globally through STEM learning and climate action. The Trust's climate education programme Protect Our Future equips young people and educators with the skills and knowledge to understand climate science and take positive action. Since the programme started, climate education lessons have been delivered at SailGP events across the globe, inspiring over 1000 young people to use their voice and tell their own climate action stories.

During the Bermuda SailGP event this May, sailors from the Emirates GBR SailGP Team will work with young people in the local community on climate science knowledge and the importance of climate action, empowering them to use their voices to drive change within their own community.

As part of the programme, a $10,000 Butterfield x Protect Our Future Climate Action Grant is on offer to schools in Bermuda. The grant will be awarded to a chosen project that engages the community around sustainability issues and channels young people's passion for local environmental issues into tangible actions, inspiring others to follow the lead.

All schools are invited to apply for the grant, including primary, secondary, public, and private institutions, and entries can be submitted as a whole school, a class or an eco-club. The judging panel will include Butterfield representatives and Sir Ben Ainslie from Emirates GBR SailGP Team. To find out more, visit here

A Butterfield spokesperson said: "We are delighted to be working with the 1851 Trust, the Purpose Partner of Emirates GBR SailGP Team, as the Official Bermuda Impact Partner for Protect Our Future, a programme which is very much aligned to Butterfield's own sustainability framework values. With the climate action grant, and as an Official Partner of the Bermuda SailGP event itself, we hope to make a positive impact both on and off the water."

1851 Trust ambassador and Emirates GBR SailGP Strategist Hannah Mills said, "The Butterfield x Protect Our Future Climate Action Grant is an exciting initiative to empower and equip young people in Bermuda with the knowledge and skills to tell their own climate action stories, enabling them to speak confidently and take action on climate change within their own community. As a team, we very much look forward to being back in Bermuda this May and working together with our partners to deliver maximum impact for the community."

SailGP is an international sailing competition that features high-performance F50 foiling catamarans competing on a global circuit around the world. The world's most exciting race on water returns to race on Bermuda's Great Sound on May 4th and 5th, SailGP is the only sports league in the world to have a podium for sport and the planet, with teams competing to win the Impact League which tracks the positive action they are taking to reduce their carbon footprint and boost inclusivity in sailing.

Learn more about the grant and partnership here

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