The Butterfield Bank Employee Trust has made a donation of $6,000 to Friends of Hope Academy.

The charity provides support to the Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy school for special needs students. The donation will help to fund the employment of support staff and para-educators, enabling students with various disabilities to attend Government-run after-school programmes and holiday camps.

More than 15 special needs students attend the Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy.

BBET chairman Daniel Cooke said the trust was extremely pleased to be able to support the wonderful service provided by the Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy. He said BBET aims to provide support where it is most needed in the community.

?We recognised the difficulty parents of children with disabilities have in funding the necessary para-educators and support staff to care for their children, especially during the summer,? he said.

The vice president of the board of directors of Friends of Hope Academy, Ifor Hughes thanked Butterfield Bank for their generous donation, which he said would make a ?real difference? to students at Hope Academy and their parents.

The Butterfield Bank Employee Trust (BBET) was launched by Butterfield Bank in 2001 and is an innovative, employee-driven programme that combines voluntary employee donations with matching Bank contributions.