The Duke of York, Patron of the Northern Ireland Science Park Trust attended a lunch at the Northern Ireland Science Park in support of the Trust. His Royal Highness welcomed the first significant private sector donation from one of our leading medical science companies TG Eakin, confident that it will make a major contribution to the development of young entrepreneurs and the economy of Northern Ireland.
As part of the NISP plan to develop that contribution, Paul Bradstock, Chairman of the NISP Trust and founding CEO of the Oxford Trust explained that this donation is just the start of the local and international business community contributing to a charitable vehicle for philanthropy on the basis of “enlightened self-interest”.
“Our mission is to prioritise science and technology in education and business; to engage the whole community in wealth creation through innovation and technology and in this we have been strongly and publicly endorsed through the Patronage of HRH Duke of York KG and in the US, by Senator George Mitchell.
“Our philosophy is that while strong political support is essential to create the right policy environment for growth, the private sector must take a lead, and for that reason independent funding from philanthropy, membership, sponsorship and appropriate contracts is paramount.”
Dr Joanne Stuart, OBE, a former member of the NISP Foundation Board and the leading business voice on development of STEM skills has been tasked with developing the NISP Trust.
“Gaining the support of The Duke of York and Senator George Mitchell is a demonstration to all of our major indigenous and inward investing technology and knowledge economy businesses, that we have a truly global reputation and that we have even more opportunity to grow and develop our entrepreneurs and early stage companies with tangible business support.
“Through the NISP Trust we are providing an invaluable opportunity for all sectors of the business community to make a very real contribution that is not measured just in the scale of their investment but simply in the very fact of it.
“This contribution by TG Eakin is significant but more importantly it is a call to action to all of our business community to become part of this success and we are giving them a tangible vehicle in which to invest and see measurable results.”
Tom Eakin, founder of TG Eakin and a previous recipient of the NISP CONNECT Innovation Founder award said, “As a company we made the decision to donate to the NISP Trust because we believe that the programmes it will support through NISP CONNECT will actually deliver on the vision of bringing Northern Ireland to the fore as a global knowledge economy.
“We are a global business based in Northern Ireland, we have a vested interest in supporting other companies to create a vibrant collaborative business culture that can compete worldwide. I would actively encourage other businesses to look at this model and join us in giving it their full support.”
