CSR Story
SHELL AND INVADERS…
Together Again
The relationship between Shell and Invaders steelband of Woodbrook harks back to 1960 when Prime Minister Eric Williams encouraged the business community to sponsor the nation’s steelbands. Shell was among the first businesses to step up and Invaders was its choice.
That sponsorship lasted until 1974, when Shell got out of the upstream energy business in T&T, but resumed in 2018, with the energy company back on T&T shores. “When Shell was approached it was an easy decision for us to make” says Derek Hudson, Vice-President of Shell Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. “The partnership was an ideal opportunity to support indigenous culture and promote the national instrument.”
Not only did Shell have a historic association with the band, but its new head office at St Clair Avenue put the Invaders panyard on Tragarete Road right within its notional “fenceline community.”
Shell is harnessing its corporate strengths – strong networking, good technical support and a lot of structure – to help Invaders realise their goals. The company is focusing on the band’s attributes, one of which is Invaders’ own structure. It’s one of the few steelbands in the country using corporate style management, with a board of directors that, the band believes, speeds up decision-making.
After the Panorama dust had settled, Shell zeroed in on an area that they could really help with. The band has decided that they want to become bigger and better. Shell is helping with that through a feeder system – to use an energy term, a “pipeline” of young people.
Shell supports the growth and expansion plans through its sponsorship of the Pan in Schools Programme nationwide. This focus on youth fits nicely with Invaders’ desire to enhance its pipeline of young players. “It is so coincidental that their philosophy is in tune with our vision,” says Invaders’ Managing Director, Michael Dinchong. “Both parties look forward to the future and what could happen.”
What will happen is Shell and Invaders teaming up to focus on pan in schools within the fenceline community. And the Invaders youth band has already performed as the Shell Invaders Youth Steel Orchestra.
When Shell Invaders roll their pan racks onto the Savannah stage and the first notes of their Panorama arrangement burst into the night, it’s always a big moment. Bands need a sponsor’s support to meet the costs of competition. But there’s more to the partnership than Panorama: Shell and Invaders are a team, and both are looking eagerly to the future.
