Many residents of Montserrat will tell you there is no place like this tiny island they want to live. It’s vibrant green hills, deep valleys and the velvet blue of the Caribbean Sea truly makes it a paradise. However, never far from the minds of residents is that living in paradise comes with a price.

The current Glendon Hospital boasts very kind and dedicated nurses and doctors but it lacks many of the essential equipment and technologies that people come to expect as necessary for proper healthcare. This is not a new challenge and since occupying a former primary school government after government has been working to find the funds to build a more fit-for-purpose medical centre for residents and visitors. Later this year, a groundbreaking for a new facility is expected.

Will this new facility come with the requisite equipment and technologies? A group of concerned Montserratians are not leaving this to chance. Drawn together because of similar experiences at the hospital, five nationals decided to join forces to support bringing improved health services to the island.

Helping Hands for Glendon was established in February 2020 by Nurse Brenda Daley, Randolph and Judith Baker, the late Hugh Scantlebury and his wife Doreen. Their shared experiences centred around the lack of essential lifesaving equipment and the need for individuals to travel to other neighbouring islands to receive medical assistance. They each had a vested interest in supporting the health and wellbeing of the people on the island of Montserrat.

The non-profit organisation was formed with the aim of raising awareness of Helping Hands for Glendon, identifying the medical needs of the island, fundraise for essential lifesaving equipment, and support the upskilling of medical practitioners.

“Health care is ever more crucial at this current time and should be reflective of the needs of the country. Having health care that is local to you is paramount, and individuals should not have to travel to other islands to receive health care especially in a global pandemic,” said President of the foundation Nurse Brenda Daley. “For the past 25 years Glendon hospital has been situated in St John’s Primary School with limited essential lifesaving equipment… it is time for change.”

The non-profit is concerned that with the UK government’s recent announcement cuts to their foreign aid package, this will inevitably have a direct impact on Montserrat which will not be beneficial to the island. This concern, they say, makes the need for Helping Hands for Glendon more urgent than ever. This was not the time to wait for someone else to solve the island’s ongoing healthcare challenge, it was time for the people to take a proactive approach in investing in their own healthcare.

The group set themselves an ambitious target to tackle what has been a growing area of need for Montserratian women. They want to purchase a mammogram machine, which costs in the region of £200,000.

“We acknowledge that this is a huge goal, however we do believe it is achievable. A year on from where we started we have raised an outstanding £10,000 of course this is no where near £200,000 but it’s a dent in our goal and we are optimistic we will reach our target,” said Denise Scantlebury, who along with her sister Deidre coordinate the organisation’s publicity and outreach work.

“We are looking into match funding and other funding streams to maximise what we have already raised. We acknowledge that we have set ourselves a high benchmark, but we are dedicated to the task at hand. We commend and applaud the Pink Ribbon Charity who have successfully drawn awareness to the importance of breast cancer, and we want to build on what they have achieved by Montserrat having their own mammogram machine which is accessible to all,” Daley added.

“However, we do recognise that a mammogram machine is a long term goal financially, therefore in the interim we will be spending some of the money raised on other lifesaving equipment such as an ECG machine which is already in budget of what we have already raised.”