FALMOUTH, Trelawny – Handcart operators in the parish of Trelawny are being encouraged to join the recently formed Trelawny Handcart Association to reap the benefits of being a part of an organised group.

Vice president of the organisation Charles Williams said that the association has brought about positive changes in its members in that they have become more united as a body, working to achieve one common goal.

“The association is doing a lot for us and we are proud of ourselves because we are learning how to save and budget our earnings. We are learning how to survive and our aim is to increase our membership and expand our business so that we can get even more recognition from the public,” he said.

He added that an account has been opened at the Falmouth branch of the Victoria Mutual Building Society and that each association member was expected to make a contribution. The money will go towards development projects, with the immediate goal being the purchase of uniforms.

Alistair Hines, who has been in the handcart business for over 30 years, said he had no intention of giving up the profession. He said that the establishment of the association has brought respect to the profession.

“Before this association came into being, people use to look down on us and sometimes scorn us because they use to see us as nothing, but since we formed this association, we have been getting respect from the people and things have changed in how they see us now,” he said.

President of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce Dennis Seivwright explained that the association emerged from the Chamber’s “Reach out and Touch” programme, which was designed to promote unity among citizens in the parish.

“To date, the Trelawny Handcart Association has 10 registered members and we are teaching them to be self reliant and not to depend on hand-outs,” he said. “We want to make them into a uniformed body and so we have come up with the idea for them to begin to wear yellow shirts on which they will have a contact number and their popular nickname to the front.”

The chamber president added that the shirts would also bear the drawing of a rainbow at the back, which will seek to represent a ray of hope for the members of the organisation. In terms of future plans, he pointed to the acquisition of a mechanical handcart, to make the work of the operators easier and would be cared for in the same manner as a regular motorcar.

“We want to try and raise the bars for these young men and train them to become entrepreneurs because they too are operating a business,” he said, urging the public to support the association and help the operators to accomplish their goals.