A charity dinner arranged by Tsakos Shipping insurance chief Andreas Bisbas has raised much-needed funds for a school in Tema, Ghana.
The St Nicholas School was built on land acquired by the Maria Tsakos Foundation in 2012 and started with 20 pupils.
Today, it has 185 pupils and is run by the St Nicholas Foundation with the support of Mytillineos Metka, the Tsakos Group and Lotus Shipping.
Fundraising events were held back by the Covid-19 pandemic but got off the ground again in style as London’s shipping community came to the Royal Automobile Club to show their support.
“We started talking about a fundraising dinner before Covid struck, but since lockdown was lifted, we worried no one would come,” Bisbas said.
It seems his fears and those of his colleagues Connie Amin and Deborah Eleazar, whose original idea it was to build the school, were unfounded.
“We are extremely grateful to all who were there on the night to help us raise much-needed funds,” said Bisbas.
“This has been a wonderful opportunity for us to thank many of those who have helped us along the way and to increase the profile of a charity which really does make a meaningful difference to the lives of so many who have so little.”
Law firm HFW, broker Miller Insurance and Tsakos London sponsored the evening. The Baltic Exchange, Elaborate Communications, London underwriters and shipowners, along with chartering brokers from SSY and Gibsons, all turned out for the charity.
Guests of honour included Nancy Karigithu from Kenya, widely tipped to succeed Kitack Lim as the next International Maritime Organization secretary general, and the Hellenic Ambassador to the Court of St James, Yannis Tsaousis.
