Mrs. Pritchard with her award and R.E. Barnes, Chairman of the Sassoon Heart Foundation Photo: J and J Photography

Nassau, Bahamas - This past Saturday the patrons of the Fiftieth Annual Heart Ball were treated to a glorious evening celebrating the Sir Victor Sassoon (Bahamas) Heart Foundation’s Fiftieth Annual Heart Ball.

This year’s Lady Sassoon Golden Heart Award went to Shelagh Farrington- Pritchard for her work with children and the elderly in need of assistance. In presenting the Lady Sassoon Golden Heart Award to Mrs. Pritchard, R.E. Barnes, Chairman of the Sassoon Heart Foundation said that the Award was started as a way to recognize members of our community who give of themselves selflessly to help their fellow man. He noted that the nominations come from the public and it is the people’s award for recognition of work done to assist those in our community.

Shelagh was born in Nassau, Bahamas to Phil and Daphne Farrington. Mrs. Pritchard attended Queens College. She then attended school in Great Britain before returning home. She is married to Robert Pritchard and they have three children, Jodi, Vanessa and Heath. Mrs. Pritchard was part of the team that helped to start Blairwood Academy, which assists children who are often multi-sensory learners. Twelve years ago Shelagh Pritchard got involved with the Women’s Corona Society in the Bahamas. Through the Corona Society she became involved with the “Help for Children Activity group” and their outreach with all of the Children’s Homes. Her focus-group worked closely with The Elizabeth Estates Children’s Home where she and team members helped young people with building a library, renovations, scholarships, homework, tutoring and life-skills such as sewing. She also helped organize monthly birthday parties for the children and educational/fun excursions for the children from the four children’s homes.

According to R E Barnes, “The many people who have worked with Shelagh Pritchard praise her with wonderful complements. She is the go to girl for churches of every denomination, orphanages, homes for the elderly, the AIDS camp, The Bahamas Red Cross, Inner Wheel, Rotary Club of East Nassau and a number of other organizations. She is described as being a tireless worker and a great networker to get things taken care of for every cause imaginable”.

Mrs. Pritchard, a lady with a truly Golden Heart, she contacted the University of Florida to establish a cooperative agreement to set-up the Youth 4-H program in The Bahamas. 4-H’s learning opportunities are intentionally designed around four essential elements necessary for positive youth development by providing youth with: supervised independence, a sense of belonging with a positive group, a spirit of generosity toward others and a wide variety of opportunities to master life challenges. Lignum Vitae Bahamas encourage the fundamental 4-H ideal of practical, “learn by doing” experiences and 4-H clubs are offered through community clubs; school-based, after-school and camp settings.