Variety Club Caribbean Barbados Inc. was officially registered under the laws of Barbados on November 25, 1994. Some years earlier, Dr. Richard Ishmael, Michael Pemberton, Cheryl Lady Forde and a few other dedicated founding members worked together to raise the necessary capital to start a Variety chapter. The first major project identified was the need for a five-bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to provide intensive focused care to monitor and treat the most serious conditions of children in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
VARIETY CLUB CONTINUED TO GROW IN STRENGTH, WITH THE HELP OF DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS AND A CORE OF FUNDRAISING COMMITTEES THAT INVENTED AND REINVENTED SIGNATURE EVENTS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE WORK OF THE CHARITY.
Some of the many people passing through and making a valuable contribution to Variety in the early years includes former Chief Barkers, Mr. Jeffrey Evelyn, Dorothy Williams Attorney-at-Law and Doug Hoyte. Also assisting on committees and the Crew were, Cheryl, Lady Forde; Mrs. Pamela Laurie; Dr. Richard Ishmael Cardiologist, Dr. Margaret-Ann St. John, Mrs. Sally Miller of Ins and Outs of Barbados Magazine; Mr. Michael Weetch, Accountant and Writer; Mr. Fred Purvis, Mrs. Gotzone Nicholls; Mr. John Yearwood Accountant, Mrs. Marie-Claire Evelyn, Mrs. Gracie Elias; and many others too numerous to mention.
The office was housed in St. James due to the kind benevolence of Mr. Fred Purvis. Today the office is located in the Plantation Complex, St. Lawrence Main Road, Christ Church for many years rent free thanks to the owners.
The Gold Hearts were brought in by Susan and her husband from England and Gold Hearts remains to this day one of the main fundraisers for the charity.
CHERYL , LADY FORDE
More than twenty years ago, Cheryl, Lady Forde was invited along with Mrs. Pamela Laurie, her good friend, and others to attend a mysterious meeting with a visitor to the island for reasons not disclosed to her at the time. That meeting resulted in a series of meetings with a group of interested persons at a meeting room in Cave Shepherd with the objective being to raise funds to form Variety Barbados Tent 73.
Consequently, by November 1994, Variety Club Caribbean (Barbados) Inc. was registered as a charity and by April 1995 Cheryl, Lady Forde along with Mrs. Dorothy Williams travelled to Boston to represent Variety Barbados Tent 73 to receive the charter from Variety International.
Since then, Cheryl, Lady Forde has served Variety in every possible capacity including Vice Chief Barker as recently as the year 2011.
Variety Barbados is proud to present Cheryl, Lady Forde with this award for her continued service to Tent 73 and in commemoration of its 20th anniversary.