Steve Banner (1st from right), the new CEO of HSBC Bangladesh and former CEO David J H Griffiths (2nd from Right) are seen with the senior management team and other staff volunteers for the School of Hope painting at Vatara, Badda in Dhaka recently.

Staff including the CEO and the senior management team of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Ltd in Bangladesh helped paint School of Hope, a school set up for the disadvantaged children from the slum areas of Gulshan and Badda. HSBC had donated funds for the refurbishment and painting of the school following the devastating floods of 2004.

School of Hope was started by a group of Swedish expatriates and now has over 140 students and 6 permanent teachers. Current HSBC Bangladesh's CEO Steve Banner and former CEO David J H Griffiths were among the volunteers from HSBC who helped in painting the 7-room school building. Mr Chitto Halder, principal of the school expressed his gratitude to HSBC for helping paint the school.

HSBCs involvement with the School of Hope started in 1997 with the then CEO of Bangladesh Mr David T Humphreys. Since then, the school has received donations from HSBC UK and HSBC Japan and received over 1.5 million BDT from HSBC Bangladesh. HSBC Bangladesh also sponsors their annual sports day, music literacy projects and has donated used computers from the Bank for the children's education.

Primary education is the first step towards learning and School of Hope provides the less fortunate an opportunity to fulfill this need and is part of HSBCs focus on promoting the country's education.