The Mission House in Bodden Town was spruced up yesterday morning (Monday, 11 December 2017) by members of the Ministry of Health, Environment, Culture and Housing, who were “giving back” to the community.

The team swapped office attire for yard clothes to spend a couple of hours cleaning, sweeping, working in the garden and carrying out general maintenance at the historic site to get it ready for Christmas.

This was the first project in a new quarterly Ministry initiative in which staff will donate time and effort to a community cause.

“Although unfortunately I could not attend the Mission House clean-up, I am delighted that our Ministry has launched this worthwhile initiative to personally help give assistance to various projects,” said Hon. Dwayne Seymour, Minister for Health, Environment, Culture and Housing.

The Mission House, which is maintained by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, was chosen because it is a cultural landmark.

“We were really pleased to help out at the Mission House yesterday to physically get the house and grounds ship-shape for the festive season, “ said Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn. “We will have similar projects four times a year, under our newly launched ‘charity morning’ initiative.”

The National Trust’s historic programmes manager Richard Mileham, who helped the Ministry team with their cleaning efforts, was delighted with the assistance.

“The Ministry staff did a fantastic job and we really appreciate them donating their time and energy to help us maintain this important historic home,” he said.

The Ministry’s next community project will be held in April 2018.