Modelling agency, insurance company partnering to give back

Two local entities have joined forces and will be giving back to the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD).

Model Patrol and Co-operators General Insurance Company Limited will make a donation to this organisation today. This will occur during a press conference which will bring an official end to sessions concluded by Model Patrol.

Over the weekend, the modelling agency – run by Founder and Miss World Barbados 2018, Ashley Lashley – held a Runway and Pageantry Master Class on Saturday at South Beach Hotel. An open casting for all Barbadians was conducted yesterday. This gave persons a chance to vie for an opportunity to be signed by the Paris-based modelling agency, A Model Management. Both sessions were led by visiting second runner-up in the 2017 Miss Universe pageant and Miss Universe Jamaica 2017, Davina Bennett.

“On Monday [today], we will be making a presentation in partnership with the Co-operators General Insurance to the Barbados Council for the Disabled, since we as young people must place considerable emphasis and respect to the plight of our disabled friends and family within our communities across Barbados. I am therefore asking other organisations, businesses and individuals across Barbados to join me as a we continue to seek to improve the lives of persons with varying disabilities in our communities,” stated Lashley as she spoke during last week’s press conference.

She explained that Model Patrol was “an artistic and creative academy which seeks to give young people a distinct opportunity to showcase their talent, skills and creativity on the international fashion and modelling circuit”. She added that both sessions over the weekend were focused “on the development of local models as it relates to being a runway and print model.

“I believe that our young people must be given the prerequisite opportunities since it is necessary at this time to create that enabling environment where they can be the best that they can be, doing what they love and making this country proud of their achievements.”

In her remarks, Bennett shared her personal story about her rise to success. She also stated she expects those who participate in the sessions to “leave better than they entered, whether it is their walk, their talk, their angles, their self-esteem [and] even just their mood”.

Meanwhile, in her address, BCD’s President Kerryann Ifill commended Lashley for especially extending an invitation for persons with disabilities to be involved in the weekend’s sessions. She noted, “Beauty is not often associated with disability. People think disability and they think it is something unattractive, unappealing and not a situation to be associated with, but opportunities like Model Patrol, opportunities as provided by Davina and Ashley and their teams are to be embraced.”

A tree planting ceremony also took place after Friday’s press conference. A palm tree was planted at the insurance company’s compound by Co-operators General’s Human Resources and Marketing Manager, Cheryl Forde, second runner-up in the 2017 Miss Universe pageant and Miss Universe Jamaica 2017, Davina Bennett, Model Patrol’s Founder and Miss World Barbados 2018, Ashley Lashley and Co-operators General’s Business Development and Marketing Officer, Sabrina Howard.