Clubhouse Ghana Limited, owner of the Standard Chartered Bank Head of Office Building, has held a colourful Christmas tree-lighting ceremony for tenants and staff to usher in this year’s festive season. Located on Independence Avenue in North Ridge and overlooking the Ako Adjei Interchange, the StanChart Building, is managed by Broll Ghana Limited and is home to blue-chip organisations like Standard Chartered Bank Head office, Google Ghana Limited and Newmont Ghana Limited. The tree-lighting event marked the first time (in the building’s six-year history) that officials and staff of tenant companies have come together to celebrate the advent of the Christmas season in an animated and convivial fashion. Officials and staff looked on excitedly as an imposing eight-feet tree, strewn with garlands and LED lights and crowned with a sparkling star on its pinnacle, was turned on in the main lobby of the building by Ms Madalene Smit, Portfolio Executive Manager, Lango Portfolio-Broll Ghana Ltd. The ambience had already been well laid out with folksy renditions of seasonal tunes from solo acoustic guitarist, Nii Sowah.
‘As we come together for this inaugural tree-lighting ceremony….as we light up this beautiful tree, we are not just adding on a little more brightness to our surrounding…we are sparking the beginning of a cherished new tradition,” declared Janet Ghartey, Senior Property Manager at AFC and SCB. ‘As we gather under these glowing lights, let’s pause for a moment to appreciate the joy warmth and sense of connection that this season brings. Let this tree shining brightly in front of us stand as a symbol of hope, unity and the bright future we’re building together,” said Janet Ghartey. The ‘special guests’ for the solemn ceremony were Kindergarten pupils from Queen Elizabeth II Educational Foundation, in Accra and their teachers, with whom Clubhouse Ghana has an enviable relationship as the beneficiary of the company’s very first CSR outreach initiative.
Queen Elizabeth II Educational Foundation, established in 1950 as the ‘Accra Day Nursery’, is reputed to be the very first nursery school in Ghana, but which, over the years, suffered gross neglect, affecting its infrastructure, teaching tools and general academic standards. In February this year, Clubhouse Ghana Limited teamed up with Accra Financial Centre (AFC) to refurbish the entire building block which accommodates a Crèche and two streams of Kindergarten at the school. The project saw the construction of a new modern washroom – all set with five water closet toilet units, handwashing sinks, a bathroom for the infants and one additional W/C toilet for the teaching staff. New tables and chairs were provided and a cupboard and individual storage nooks were built for the children’s learning materials and personal effects. “Christmas is all about love and about sharing our joy with people we cherish; it means so much more to children who are the future generation so it’s appropriate that in ushering in this new festive season, we remembered and invited our young friends from the Nursery School to join us,” said a delighted Ms Smit.
