St Andrew community champions honoured at State House

Eleven St Andrew residents have been recognised with the Pride of Barbados Award for their contributions to civic life, in a ceremony at State House, where Acting President of Barbados, Reverend Dr Jeffrey Gibson, called for stronger community engagement to strengthen the nation’s social fabric.

The residents were recognised on the We Gatherin’ 2025 Honours List.

Delivering brief remarks, Reverend Gibson stressed that the survival and progress of communities depend on people stepping beyond the boundaries of their immediate households to contribute to broader social life.

“I believe civic engagement leads to social cohesion. It helps us to belong together, to know that we are part of a bigger group of people than just our immediate household,” he said. 

“Family, we know, is a basic unit in society, but we need to move beyond the family in terms of our participation in school or participation in church or other religious assemblies or participation in youth groups or sporting clubs, or any other organisation in the setting of our location.

“It helps us to appreciate the fact that we belong together. We pool our skills, our resources, and we make our community better.”

One of the honourees, Carlitha Andrews, was praised for her leadership and tireless advocacy on behalf of White Hill residents. Known as a determined voice for her community, Andrews worked to secure vital road and water infrastructure, as well as improved services to ease the daily struggles of families.

She said: “Oftentimes, persons work hard in the community and they are overlooked. So I feel honoured to be a recipient of this award, and going forward, I’m going to continue to do the community work that I am accustomed doing.”

Andrews noted that her persistence was born out of necessity, given the challenges in her parish over recent years: “Lots of you all here would not know what it’s like not to have running water in your tap for all like six months straight. Somebody had to do it, so I advocate, and I want to say thanks to the person that heard my voice.

“Where the garbage is concerned, we don’t have that problem that we had before, because I had to voice my opinion again about that, about my frustration, and that problem [has been improved]. As it relates to the bus again… for hours you can’t get to work, you cannot get home, children can’t get to school. I advocated about that, and my voice was heard, and I’m very appreciative and I will continue to do my best for my community and the surrounding community.”

Nigel Williams, a longstanding volunteer from Shorey Village, was also celebrated for his decades of cultural and humanitarian work. His leadership, compassion and vision brought life to initiatives such as Crab Night, which began as a local tradition and has grown into one of the island’s most popular community events.

“I was in volunteerism from very small…. I guess that comes from being from a big family, no siblings,” Williams said.

He recalled the origins of Crab Night: “In my youth, when people go crabbing, there was always excitement in the village. The idea came up where we as a committee could do it, we did it, and right now [it’s] the biggest thing in Barbados.”

The honours list also featured Pedro McDonald Belgrave, a lifelong sportsman, mentor and advocate for people with disabilities. His work has combined sport, youth development, and advocacy to promote inclusivity while inspiring the next generation.

Belgrave said, “I worked with the community for sports for a number of years. I’m very proud, happy to receive this award. My work is trying to mentor young persons in the area, not only in football, but in life skills, teaching to be better persons among our peers and the parish of St Andrew.

“Also advocating for persons with disabilities. Letting people see that… we can do things out there, we can help in the community, we can work, and we are still people.” (SB)