44thRegatta from September 29 to October 1 |15 July 2017

Proceeds to go to School for the Exceptional Child

Grab your beach slippers and Kendall Jenner-inspired pink flamingo pool floaties because the 44th Regatta event is officially set to take place from September 29 all through to October 1.

This was announced by the Round Table Seychelles (RTS) yesterday during the event’s official launch at Air Seychelles VIP Lounge in Pointe Larue.

As has been customary for years, the popular three-day celebration acts as means for fundraising and relies heavily on the Regatta lottery as primary method for raising funds for charity.

Neil Puresh, president of the Round Table, declared that the School for the Exceptional Child located in Roche Caïman, has been identified as the beneficiary of this year’s philanthropic endeavour.

“The proceeds this year will go towards funding a significant refurbishment of the School for the Exceptional Child ‒ a project which the President of the Republic holds close to his heart,” he said.

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources along with the Office of the President will join with RTS to undertake the estimated R1.2 million project.

The current school where Seychelles’ special needs children receive their education is rather old, dated and lacks certain amenities required for these children.

Education principal secretary Dr Odile de Comarmond, who was in attendance, told Seychelles NATION that the plan is to massively improve the environment in which the less-able students and their teachers operate by fixing the roofing, installing facilities such as special toilets and shower rooms among others.

 “For instance we need special rooms for children suffering with autism, down-syndrome and so on. Furthermore, we plan on fixing the exterior of the school to provide our kids with more acceptable grounds to play and develop their abilities,” she explained.

Work on the project is expected to start during the Christmas holidays and is proof of the Round Table’s effort to give back to the community.

As for the Regatta, Mr Puresh has stated that it will be a fun-filled weekend with the internationally renowned DJ Fiesta as the headlining performance of the opening night, and as usual the event will have diverse music, sports and the much-awaited Miss Regatta beauty pageant.

Regatta will also be going back to its original Creole root, a feeling which has been echoed through Regatta’s 2017 vibrant artwork contributed by Colbert Nourrice.

The artwork depicts Seychellois surrounding a bonfire as they indulge in the local moutya dance.

Speaking at the event’s launch, Mr Puresh said lottery tickets will be on sale as of next week in “all the usual places” such as in front of the Post Office and on Market Street.

RTS is striving for an all-time sales record of 125,000 tickets. This feat does not seem insurmountable with the extra steps RTS has taken to add additional values to the tickets.

In fact the lottery not only offers a Suzuki Vitara sponsored by Kim Koon Motors as star prize, but the back of the lottery will also hold another special lottery organised by Gran Kaz.

The holder of a Regatta ticket will also be able to get a R500 discount off any international tickets when they present the tickets upon purchase.

Furthermore Cable & Wireless in partnership with Air Seychelles and PMC Auto will run an SMS raffle for CWS Prepaid users between August 21 and October 23 where raffle holders will stand the chance of winning a Hyundai EON and two Economy Class return tickets to Johannesburg.

Regatta remains one of the most popular event in Seychelles raking in over 50,000 people every year to the well-kwon Beau Vallon site.