Grooming Centre officially opened its 4-storey Learning Hub and the Staff Fitness Centre in a socially distanced gathering on Tuesday, December 15 2020. The Fitness Centre is the first of its kind at the Centre and a massive step towards promoting and improving health, wellness and work-life balance among staff members. The Fitness Centre will foster team building, reduce stress and boost productivity while the Learning Hub contains an e-library, workspace, audiovisual studio, as well as multiple seminar rooms, and will facilitate physical and virtual capacity building sessions for staff and the community. .
Grooming Endowment Trust
Following a resolution of the 35th Session of the Governing Council, the Grooming Endowment Trust was set up to provide funding for the Centre’s expanding range of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related initiatives, for the benefit of the Centre’s members and society at large. Incorporated in August 2020, the Trust will provide grants and investments in the areas of of education and capacity building, health, enterprise and community development, as well as venture formation and humanitarian relief. The governance and operational mechanisms for the Trust have been set up, and activities will commence in the first quarter of 2021.
Grooming Talent Hunt 2020
The second edition of the Grooming Centre Talent Hunt held from 21st October -21st of November, 2020 at the Grooming Centre Multipurpose Hall. The Talent Hunt was created with the purpose of discovering talents and empowering the youth within the Ejigbo community, in Lagos, Nigeria. The event started with the open auditioning of over 100 performers from the community with 15 performers successfully moving to the next stage and finally, 6 performers at the Grand finale where Precious Mac Ebiama emerged as the winner while Yusuf Balogun and Otokpeya Ochuko Felix were the 1st & 2nd runners-up respectively.
University Grant Scheme 2020
In furtherance of the Centre role in contributing to and promoting research and knowledge development in areas of social enterprise, microfinance, inclusive finance, poverty alleviation and rural development, the Grooming Centre University Grant Scheme provides research grants to undergraduate and postgraduate students in Nigeria. This year, the Centre’s Management increased the grant funding from N75,000 for undergraduates to N100,000 each, and N150,000 to N200,000 each for postgraduates and awarded 41 students, 13 undergraduates & 28 postgraduates, in a ceremony held on December 14, 2020.
Inauguration of the Second Governing Council
The Centre’s Second Governing Council was inaugurated by the Board of Trustees on Thursday, December 17, 2020, after the tenure of the First Council elapsed. The newly inaugurated six-member Council, under the leadership of Dr. Noel Ihebuzor as the newly elected Council Chairman, was also strengthened by the addition of Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, a renowned social justice advocate and development expert. The Governing Council provides policy and advisory guidance to the Executive Management Team in the execution of the Centre’s goals and objectives.