Bermuda-based Edmund Gibbons Limited (EGL) has directed $100,000 in charitable giving to the Cayman Islands’ R3 Foundation to help Cayman’s community cope with the hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

EGL has a long-standing relationship with the Cayman Islands and does business in the jurisdiction through its majority ownership of British Caymanian Insurance through CG Coralisle group as well as its shared ownership of Clarien Bank with NCB Financial Group; which has a long-standing presence in the Cayman Islands through financial services subsidiaries NCB (Cayman) Limited and NCB Capital Markets (Cayman) Limited.

The $100,000 Cayman Islands donation was part of more than $400,000 of charitable donations made over the past 12 months in the names of Edmund and Winifred Gibbons or Edmund Gibbons Limited. Much of the money distributed in Cayman and Bermuda, has already been put to use by the R3 Foundation and the various Bermuda recipients, which included Bermudian charities’ programs supporting the community’s basic necessities:

“COVID-19 brought sudden joblessness and immense hardship to communities here in Bermuda and Cayman. The Gibbons family is heartened to know its philanthropy over the past year helped to ease the heavy burden families in these communities faced through no fault of their own,” said an EGL family representative.

Cayman’s R3 Foundation was founded in response to the hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but with a longer-term mission focused on readiness, relief and recovery in the Cayman Islands in relation to manmade or natural emergencies and disasters. With a founding contribution of CI$1M from the Kenneth B. Dart Foundation and a commitment to match a further CI$4M of donations, R3 is independently managed by an unpaid board of directors drawn from a range of business sectors and non-governmental community leaders. The foundation’s strong governance structure is supported by a former attorney general as supervisor and the sitting governor as principal.  

Bryan Hunter, Chairman of R3 Foundation said: “This generous donation to Cayman’s R3 Foundation has been a huge help in providing essential services to those in Cayman most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds have been directed to our objectives of relief and recovery in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, which includes providing food, rent and utilities assistance, mental health support and the training and upskilling of persons who have been displaced from their jobs or whose employment opportunities have been limited by the pandemic.”

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About Edmund Gibbons Limited

The Gibbons Family is one of Bermuda’s oldest, having arrived in the first decade after Bermuda was settled in 1609. The modern family business descends from Edmund Gibbons, who established his first company in 1916 and went on to build a chain of retail companies focused on the local market. Edmund Gibbons made a name for himself as a shrewd businessman and as an active participant in public service.

His sons, Mr. E. Graham Gibbons, CBE and the Honourable Sir John David Gibbons, KBE, JP continued the further development and expansion of the core businesses. They oversaw their evolution into a multi-national enterprise with interests focused on real estate, banking, insurance and retail. Today, the Gibbons Group of Companies has extensive operations in Bermuda and beyond. Sir David served as both the Premier of Bermuda and Minister of Finance, and his brother E. Graham Gibbons served as Mayor of Hamilton for thirteen years.

The Grandsons of Edmund and Winifred Gibbons – Dr E. Grant Gibbons, Tom Gibbons, J. David Gibbons and James L. Gibbons – serve as Directors of Edmund Gibbons Ltd as well as in senior positions in Gibbons Group Companies.

About R3 

R3 Cayman Foundation is a private sector-led, charitable organisation focused on disaster Readiness, Relief and Recovery in the Cayman Islands. Our mission is to help our three islands proactively prepare for, resiliently cope with and sustainably recover from manmade or natural emergencies and disasters. Established in 2020, our support enables community partners to maximise their positive impact in our community. To learn more and see our work in action, please visit www.r3foundation.ky.