The Griffin Charitable Trust

As the Jamaican arm of UCS The Griffin Trust (UK registered Charity), The Griffin Charitable Trust has been working at grassroots level in some of Jamaica's most volatile and dangerous inner-city communities, educating, training and providing care to the communities' most vulnerable, the elders and the children at risk.

In 2007 we established the beginnings of The Sanctuary (in the back bedroom of our rented 2 bed. house), providing life end care to 2 elders in need of TLC in their last days, Very quickly we expanded to providing safe space for 1 mum with 2 children fleeing domestic violence and another 4 children (3 siblings) who needed a place where they were no longer abused and at risk. Further expansion followed as we moved to Constant Spring and in late 2009 when we came here to The Sanctuary, St Catherine where we are establishing a safe space with a difference.

Set in 2 1/2 acres, The Sanctuary ideally located for the self-sustainable permaculture environment we seek to establish, already we have our vegetable gardens, fruit and ackee trees, goats and soon our new chicken coop. The now 7 children learn from the elders, in a safe space away from the violence, abuse and gunshot that was their previous 'normality'.

In addition to the Sanctuary, The Griffin Charitable Trust provides education, vocational and entrepreneurial skills training to young offenders and trains literacy skills mentors (who are now mentoring 200+)in 5 penal institutions through it's Hush The Guns and Springboard programmes.