The Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA) has been named the newest partner of the Glen V Bromfield/Jamaica Civil Service Association Education Trust Fund, a foundation started in 2011 to assist the children of civil servants who are enrolled in a secondary institution and are in need of financial assistance.

The three-year partnership was announced on Friday during the second staging of the Glen V Bromfield/Jamaica Civil Service Association Education Trust Fund award ceremony at the Medallion Hall Hotel in St Andrew.

President of JUTA tours Kingston Chapter Noël Williams said that the transport union will be committing $300,000 over the three-year period in the hope that more students will be outfitted with the necessary amenities for school.

Williams explained during the ceremony that education is close to the hearts of the executive of JUTA Tours and when Bromfield proposed the idea he had no reservation, and as anticipated, neither did the executive members of JUTA.

“When Bromfield came to me, with an invitation in hand to this ceremony and explained the contribution that we would be making to the nation’s children, I was immediately sold on the idea,” Williams told the Jamaica Observer.

However, the decision to accept Bromfield’s invite to be considered as partners was a decision Williams could not make alone.

But as anticipated, Williams said that subsequent to presenting the proposal to the executive members of JUTA Tours there was a unanimous agreement by them to accept the partnership proposal.

“It was no surprise that the response was positive, because JUTA encourages education. This was the perfect avenue for sharing this,” Williams said, noting that all five of his children are university graduates.

For this, and his unexpected gift, Williams received a standing ovation from attendees at the awards ceremony.

Co-founder of the education trust Glen Bromfield, who also shared that he founded JUTA tours several years ago, said that he was overwhelmed that his proposal was accepted. In addressing JUTA Tours three-year commitment, Bromfield also used the opportunity to encourage other businesses to contribute to the trust fund.

He said that no amount of money is too much, because educating the nation’s most promising minds should be central to every well-thinking member of society.

“Education of our children should be seen as the most important job in society. We should aim to help them, but we can’t do it alone — we need the help of others and I am grateful Mr Williams and JUTA saw it fit to make this contribution,” Williams said

This year’s ceremony saw 12 students benefiting from the scholarship. Seven students got scholarships valuing $100,000 each while the remaining five awardees received $20,000 each.

To date, 19 students have benefited from this trust fund.