Prime Minister Freundel Stuart expressed joy at the honour of opening the Violet Gittens Centre yesterday afternoon, and he not only cut the ribbon and toured the 26-bed facility for children with special needs, but also chatted with some of them.
The $3 million centre at the Nightingale Complex in Black Rock, St Michael, is part of a major contribution to the youth by the Barbados Children’s Trust, and was named in honour of Gittens, who spent most of her life working in the field of social care and child care. Gittens, who was born just over a century ago, was a senior welfare officer and member of the Child Care Board and the foster care and adoption committee.
Here, Cicely King (foreground left) and Trecia O’Neal holding the Prime Minister’s attention, while Sir Kyffin Simpson (left in background) of the Children’s Trust and Ayo Cupid, another ward, look on. (RJ)
