A human rights charity has set its sights on strengthening its place in the island as its founder takes full-time control of the organisation.

Aaron Crichlow, the managing director of Bermuda is Love, announced that he had given up a comfortable job in a private legal practice to run the charity full-time.

Now the organisation plans to create “an institution of socioeconomic justice that continues to advocate for social justice perennially”.

Mr Crichlow said: “My mind is thinking, ‘How can we create another civil rights movement, but a movement of economic rights?’ ”

He added: “I’m hopeful that love becomes a normal part of everyday life in Bermuda.

“Love must be the pillar — must be the glue — to everything that we do.”

Bermuda is Love started off as a grassroots volunteer service in August 2020 as a way for him and several of his friends to give back to their community.

The group started with picking up trash around the island.

Soon it branched out into creating neighbourhood gardens, assisting with food programmes and holding clothing drives.

Its efforts soon led to information sessions where it held awareness campaigns based around social inequality and environmentalism.

The practical and abstract sides of its efforts met when it began to organise free health screenings and legal advisories from volunteer professionals.

Mr Crichlow, who now oversees more than 40 active members, admitted he did not believe the organisation would become such a powerhouse.

He said: “Bermuda is Love started as an experiment and as a way for me to put my philosophy of love and basic needs into reality.

“Thankfully, more people have come on board and recognised it, but it’s always been an experiment of how far it can go.”

Today, the organisation has grown in size and force, and 2025 became a year of marked change.

Mr Crichlow said that the group received its charitable status last year while focusing on creating and assisting with helpful programmes.

The charity started a breakfast programme at Elliot Primary School and became involved in government initiatives such as a mental health campaign and the Cost of Living Summit.

Bermuda is Love spoke at an event for World Homeless Day organised by the housing charity Home and ended the year winning several awards, including from the Rotary Club and The Bermudian magazine.

The group even created Bermuda is Love Legal Services to offer advice for landlord and tenant disputes as well as family matters.

Mr Crichlow said that his charity was driven by the concept of love for one another and helping people to “become the best version of themselves”.

He said this required respecting everyone’s human rights and improving access to opportunities, from food to information.

Mr Crichlow added that he wanted to help Bermudians recognise their “duty to love one another” and ensure options for future generations.

“Love is selflessness personified,” he said.

“The Golden Rule is, ‘treat others how you want to be treated’, but for us — for me — I say, ‘treat others with love, regardless of who they are’.”

He added: “Love is about empathy, understanding the lived experiences of others and building trust.

“Really, it’s about recognising that humans are beautiful, beautiful creatures, really amazing and wonderful people and that every person deserves not just saving, but everything.”

Mr Crichlow said he wanted to spend 2026 thinking of how Bermuda is Love could deliver more long-term impact to the community.

He said the charity also wanted to offer more school breakfast programmes and planned to lease a half acre from the Bermuda National Trust and use it for farming.

Mr Crichlow admitted that he did not plan to be at the helm of Bermuda is Love for ever, but hoped to continue for as long as he could while setting up a successful system.

He added: “I think the bigger goal is figuring out how to democratise the organisation further.

“For me, the goal is less ‘how can we find new leaders to lead the organisation’ but ‘how can we find new ways of structuring the organisation?’ ”

Mr Crichlow said that a key focus of the charity would also be collecting more volunteers and funds to help it stay afloat.

He said: “We don’t want to just start something and let it wither away. We want to make it really sustainable, grounded and built into the infrastructure itself of Bermudian society and life.

“So we need more people to get involved — the organisation has grown, but we need more growth.

“We need more Bermudians to really believe that Bermuda is love.”