Tropical Sun in the Community
As well as pursuing our passion: bringing the flavours of the world to your table, we pride ourselves on our work with local and international communities. Traditionally, we’ve been inclined to keep our community and charity work fairly low-key, but in response to inquiries from customers, we’ve decided to publish details of relevant activities on this page. New updates will be posted to the top of the page at regular intervals.
If you are keen to get involved in any of our projects, or if you’d like to put forward ideas, feedback or questions, we’d love to hear from you - please do get in touch via our contact page.
Birmingham Care Group, Birmingham
A deeply caring and highly motivated community organisation, the Birmingham Care Group has helped keep thousands of vulnerable people fed and looked after since the start of the pandemic. Distributing over 500 tailored food parcels per week, they do their best to ensure everyone gets exactly what they need, meeting a wide range of dietary and cultural needs. We are blessed to be able to play a small part in the lifesaving work they do, supplying in-demand foods such as ackee, coconut milk and vegetable oil to the people of Birmingham. If you shop on Amazon, you can support them without spending a penny! Click here to make them your chosen charity: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1149682-0.
Peckham Pantry, Peckham, London
As soon as Peckham Pantry got in touch with us, we knew we had to get involved. A members-only food store based in South London, they are tackling the country’s poverty crisis with a fresh and innovative approach.
For a subscription fee of £4.50, members of Peckham Pantry can shop up to a value of £15, including Tropical Sun seasonings, rice and coconut milk. A dignified way of reducing the size of customers’ weekly shopping bill, families are given a much-needed helping hand, assisting their transition to prosperity.
Waltham Forest Coronavirus Response, London
Tropical Sun is East London born and raised, and since 2007, we’ve been proud to call the Borough of Waltham Forest our home. In March 2020, when coronavirus pandemic barged its way into our lives, we jumped at the chance to partner with Waltham Forest Council and local charity Eat or Heat to put together care parcels for the most vulnerable members of our local community.
Packed with daily essentials such as rice, lentils and porridge oats, the food packages helped to ensure the vulnerable could go into temporary isolation without the added concern of having to visit shops and supermarkets awash with frenzied shoppers.
'We Are Here’ Windrush Exhibition, London
We are proud to support We Are Here, an exhibition showcasing personal photographs, mementos and oral testimonies of the Windrush residents of our local borough: Waltham Forest in East London. Whether at home, work or play, these residents have contributed immensely to the fabric of British society, yet little evidence of this exists in the borough’s archives. We Are Here uncovers some of these stories to fill that gap and honour the many wonderful people whose stories may never have been told otherwise.
Visit We Are Here’s website to take a virtual taster tour of the exhibition.
KICC Coronavirus Response, London
During challenging times, it is truly inspiring to see the lengths that some organisations go to in order to support those in need. Committed to feeding their community during the coronavirus lockdown, KICC is one such organisation.
Playing a small part in their most comprehensive offering, we were delighted to know that our gari, semolina, coconut puffs and other foods helped ensure that care parcel recipients were well fed during the initial coronavirus lockdown.
If you’re able to support KICC, or if you are based in London and are in urgent need of food supplies, then head to KICC’s website.
'Classrooms for Jamaica', Central Village, Jamaica
Our factory team prepping callaloo by hand
Our Central Village partner factory employs 200 staff to produce the foods in our Made in Jamaica range including Jerk Seasoning, Ackee and Callaloo.
A tight-knit community; many of the employees live in the local area and their children tend to go to one of two neighbourhood schools: White Marl Primary School and Jose Marti Technical High School, both of which underwent extensive renovations as part of our recent birthday celebrations.
These works represent just the start of our partnerships with both schools, and we will be announcing more developments in the near future. You can see some of the renovations and hear from the school's incredible teachers in the short video below.
White Marl Primary School
White Marl Primary School, which houses 1,300 pupils aged 4-10, was fitted out with cupboards in the guidance council department and a security guard post with toilet facilities, the latter of which was particularly important as it helps to guarantee the safety of the children, whilst also keeping the security guard protected from the radiant Jamaican sun.
The school is run by the enigmatic Mr Brown, a head teacher with seemingly infinite love and compassion, who has even written an inspiring chant called ‘Gem’ that he performs with the pupils to motivate them to be better students and citizens.
Children from White Marl enjoying play time
Building the security hut from the ground up
Constructing a sturdy frame
Near completion – just the roof to go
Painted and ready for action
A happy security guard, no longer having to sit in the hot sun
A welcoming booth from which the entrance is secured
Play is the highest form of research
A young child with our Brand Manager: Sinan
Eagerly awaiting the next class
One of many inspiration credos on school walls
The children’s first sprint track, where the Usain Bolt of tomorrow might be discovered
Jose Marti Technical High School
Built by the Cuban Government in the 1960s, at the height of Cuba’s tensions with USA, Jose Marti Technical High School’s origins were controversial, not least because the school was visiting by the then Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who gifted the school 4 school buses.
Many years on, with the school now in the hands of the Jamaican Government, it now offers valuable vocational training including auto mechanics, information technology and drafting.
Housing considerably more students than their space is designed to hold, the education of the pupils is a testament to the hard-working teachers and staff at the school, and Tropical Sun is proud to have contributed in a small way through refurbishments to the lecture theatre, junior staff room and junior school classroom, including fixing holes in the roof, reupholstering 180 chairs and installing partitions to block open space atop classroom dividing walls.
A mural depicting the schools origins and aspirations
On the way to the first class of the day
Where children come to express creativity
One of many amazing sculptures by talented pupils
A pointillist style piece by a skilled student
Open spaces atop walls resulting in sound pollution
Partitioning in action
The Science Lab, now free from sound pollution
A calmer learning environment for students
Inspiring the next generation of Jamaican culinary masters
Reupholstered chairs in the lecture theatre
Time to head home for some rest and family-time
Marfo Children Care Foundation (MCCF), Tema, Ghana
The Marfo Children Care Foundation (MCCF) was founded by Adwoa Yeboah-Marfo, a woman with a great capacity for caring for those in need.
Following the death of her husband Yaw, Ms Marfo decided to open up her home to orphaned children, raising them as members of her own family, providing them with spiritual guidance, access to education and the momentum to build bright futures.
With Tropical Sun's support, the MCCF are renovating their home, turning the sparse, bare-bones building into a safe and functional space with working plumbing, electrics, bathroom facilities, a perimeter fence and more. Tropical Sun is proud to play a small part in helping this wonderful family grow together and continue to inspire the world around them.
Prison Link, Birmingham, UK
Prison Link was founded to tackle one of the country’s most challenging problems: the rehabilitation of offenders. The service supports offenders and their families to reduce the toll that crime has on society, particularly on the victims of crime. Tropical Sun is truly grateful for the opportunity to support such a progressive organisation through funding. We applaud Prison Link’s vision of a more restorative, optimistic and pro-active approach to justice, and encourage those who want to learn more to visit: https://www.prisonlink.info
Guru Nanak Home for Children, Ranchi, India
The Guru Nanak Home for Children was founded in 1970 to treat and rehabilitate handicapped children. Having taken care of over 36,000 patients with severe and complicated illnesses such as polio, they have fitted over 550 artificial limbs and supplied over 10,900 orthotic appliances, bringing some much-needed quality of life to those most desperately in-need.
We are proud to have provided financial support to this wonderful project for the past decade - and will undoubtedly continue to do so for the coming decade.
To support the Guru Nanak Home for Children, visit http://www.gurunanakhome.org/take_a_tour.htm
Our love and deepest appreciation to the fantastic Anne Heslop for her beautiful photos of the patients at the Guru Nanak Home for Children. See her work and support her art at http://www.anneheslop.co.uk
Angel Foundation, Jamaica
The Angel Foundation is dedicated to supporting education and health in Jamaica. Founded by the inspirational Angel Christian, the organisation has raised crucial funding for numerous schools, hospitals and more, touching the lives of many thousands of people.
Tropical Sun is proud to have donated 7 refurbished computers complete with Windows 10 Pro to The Angel Foundation. For more information on the Angel Foundation, including details on how to donate, visit: https://angelfoundationja.com/.
Woodgrange Baptist Church Food Bank, London, UK
Woodgrange Baptist Church in Forest Gate, East London, are renowned for being welcoming to people of all faiths – and for their work in the local community, which includes hosting a soup kitchen and food bank to care for those most desperately in need.
Tropical Sun is proud to provide support for their food bank in the form of regular donations of foods including tinned meat and fish, soups and peanut butter.
For more information on the church, visit http://www.woodgrangebaptist.org.uk/
African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT), UK
The ACLT provide blood, bone marrow and organ donation assistance to patients living with blood cancer and other illnesses.
In 2013, we launched an on-pack campaign to help drive donations from African, Caribbean and Asian communities. Information stickers were stuck to the lids of our Coconut Peanuts, not only directly encouraging donations, but also wider conversations about health and the need for communities to build a culture of blood, bone marrow and organ donation.
In 2018, we were honoured to attend the ACLT's 'Gift of Life' Ball, and were overjoyed that our cricket bat signed by the legendary West Indies ‘90s team sold for £850 at auction.
Pearl Support Network for Sufferers of Dementia, UK
The Pearl Support Network was founded by brothers Karl and Junior in honour of their mother Pearl, who lived with dementia for over 10 years and passed away in June 2016.
The project is in the development stages and aims to provide culturally sensitive support services for dementia sufferers from the traditionally underrepresented Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities.
Tropical Sun is providing Pearl Support with financial assistance and the input of our skilled and passionate team, several of whom have had personal experiences with dementia.
For more information, or to offer your support, please visit: https://pearlsupportnetwork.org.uk/
Bethel Church, Bristol, UK
Bethel Church is a community church in the heart of St. George, Bristol.
They provide support for local residents from an array of backgrounds, and so we were very proud to be invited to present to their congregation, and provide assistance for their 'Royal Kidz' childrens' programme.
To learn more about Bethel Church, including how to support their work, visit: https://www.bethelchurchbristol.org/
Hurricane Maria Relief, Dominica
In September 2017, the island of Dominica was battered with 160mph winds which left many dead, stripped the island of vegetation and left much of the country without power, water and communications.
We are grateful for the opportunity to help in relief efforts through donating a pallet of Tropical Sun foods.
Sickle Cell Society, UK
The Sickle Cell Society supports and represents people affected by sickle cell disease to improve their overall quality of life.
Founded in 1979, the society has helped thousands of individuals and families over the past three decades, and so we're incredibly proud to be able to help enhance their vital work through financial support and providing service users with health-sustaining Tropical Sun products such as coconut oil and coconut water,
Allowing Christ To Shine (ACTS) Ministries Feed The Homeless, Birmingham, UK
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We are in the process of adding more of our projects, some of which date back many years, to this page. If you're keen to find out more, or send us feedback, suggestions or questions, please get in touch via our contact page.
With love,
The Tropical Sun Family