Bermuda CableVision today awarded Sheelagh Cooper, founder of The Coalition for the Protection of Children, with its latest Community Service Award. Mrs. Cooper was presented with the award at a ceremony held at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute this morning, attended by Minister of Culture & Social Rehabilitation, the Hon. Neletha Butterfield, MBE, JP, MP.
Berm
uda CableVision also made a $1,000 donation to The Coalition for the Protection of Children in recognition of Mrs. Cooper's significant achievements in helping to raise awareness about the importance of a safe, healthy and nurturing environment for children in Bermuda.
Minister of Culture & Social Rehabilitation, the Hon. Neletha Butterfield, MBE, JP, MP.presents Sheelagh Cooper, founder of The Coalition for the Protection of Children, with CableVision's latest Community Service Award. CableVision general manager Terry Roberson presented Ms Cooper with a $1,000 donation to The Coalition for the Protection of Children in recognition of her significant achievements.
Mrs. Cooper founded The Coalition for the Protection of Children in 1992 to tackle the issue of child abuse in Bermuda and has worked unpaid for the charity since its inception. The charity now employs seven people and provides a wide range of prevention, intervention, treatment and after-care programmes and services to children and families. These include a child abuse hotline, financial assistance, conflict resolution programmes, peer mediation training for students in Bermuda's public schools, as well as a programme providing a nutritious breakfast for underprivileged children in approximately 250 families. The Coalition's school breakfast programme served 30,000 meals last year.
Mrs. Cooper gained an understanding of the connection between how people are treated during their childhood and the way they live their lives in adulthood from her academic studies for an undergraduate degree in psychology from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada and a master's degree in criminology from the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Mrs. Cooper explains: ?I founded The Coalition to primarily lobby the Government to develop legislation to protect children in Bermuda, as at the time no laws were in place to address child welfare. However, child abuse is a complex issue and since then the charity has grown to also provide a broad base of preventative and treatment services. Ensuring legislation is in place to address child abuse once it has occurred is not enough, healing and empowering families is the focus of our work. We help families to identify and build upon their strengths.?
Minister of Culture & Social Rehabilitation, the Hon. Neletha Butterfield MBE, JP, MP, comments: ?Working with children that have been subjected to child abuse is about breaking a cycle so that our community can be restored. Children who may not have a secure and supportive home environment and are exposed to criminal elements such as drug and alcohol addiction, child abuse and family violence are more likely to repeat this same behaviour as they become adults. So I applaud Mrs. Cooper for assisting families in this regard.?
Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce, the Hon. Michael Scott, JP, MP, added: ?As a community each of us share a sacred trust to reach out to our neighbours, particularly those who are most at risk. Mrs. Cooper deserves to be honoured in this fashion today because she represents one of the building blocks for a community that is interested in healing and helping turn hopelessness to empowerment and securing a happy and productive future for our children.?
Terry Roberson, General Manager of Bermuda CableVision, says: ?Mrs. Cooper has worked tirelessly for the last 18 years without pay to ensure that The Coalition for the Protection of Children can operate with minimal overheads and that over 90 percent the money raised through the charity's various fundraising efforts can be used to help families in need. For this she deserves our upmost admiration. With five children and 14 grandchildren herself, Mrs. Cooper is as an example of how volunteer work can become a true labour of love.?
Mrs. Cooper also founded The Center for Community and Family Mediation, a division of The Coalition, which provides hundreds of couples every year with family mediation services. In addition, she was a founding member of Christian housing ministry, Habitat for Humanity Bermuda and continues to be Chairman of the Family Selection Committee for the organisation.
More than 100 volunteers contribute approximately 2,000 hours annually working for The Coalition for the Protection of Children, but the charity is always looking for more help to extend its services and programmes. For more information, please call 295-1150, email:
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or visit: www.coalition.bm or www.mediate.bm.
Notes to editors:
Bermuda CableVision Community Service Awards
A committee reviews all nominations and selects a winner for the quarterly CableVision Community Service Award. The committee is comprised of CableVision employee Rollin Nathan; DeFontes radio host Shirley Dill; police media manager Dwayne Caines; and community activist Cromwell Shakir.
Bermuda CableVision will present its next Community Service Award in November 2010.The company invites the public to nominate any individual residing in Bermuda who has shown outstanding community service through participation in a school, church or charity organisation, or through their own determination.
Nominations can be emailed to Rollin Nathan at
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, or mailed to the attention of Rollin Nathan, Bermuda CableVision, P.O. Box 1642, Hamilton, HM GX. For further information, visit www.cablevision.bm.
