Who We Are

The Dominica Natural Disaster & Development Fund (DNDDF ~ The Dominica Fund), was formed in 1990 in the wake of Hurricanes Gilbert (1988) and Hugo (1989) by the Dominica UK Association (DUKA), Dominica Overseas Nationals Association (DONA), Dominica Development Association (DDA), and supported by the representative of the Commonwealth of Dominica in the United Kingdom (The Office of High Commission).  The creation of the DNDDF arose from the identified need to have an organisation to coordinate all aspects of disaster preparedness and relief in the aftermath of disasters incidents primarily but not exclusively in Dominica.

 

The historic event of establishing the DNDDF was the culmination of a series of meetings from 8th October 1989 held at the High Commission in Earls Court London involving the three main London based Dominican Associations.  The DNDDF secured registered Charity status in 1991, No. 1001492, and in 2012 its Objects and Governing Instrument were revised to include Economic and Social Development in addition to disaster preparedness and relief.  Further changes to facilitate the inclusion of community unregistered charity groups and changes to voting rules were made in 2016.  The DNDDF is an organization membership charity with the provision for co-option of individuals with special and relevant skills that can be deployed to deliver its socio-economic objectives.

 

The DNDDF’s fundraising efforts since 1990 with the assistance of its members positioned the organisation to respond positively in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Erika which devastated Dominica on 28th August 2015.  The Office of the High Commission in conjunction with the DNDDF, members of the Associations and volunteers coordinated the relief effort of the collection and shipped a range of donated items to Dominica. A sum of £85,000 was collected and donated to the general relief effort and the DNDDF donated a further £15,000 directly to the Dominica Red Cross Society to assist with the recovery effort. In September 2017 Dominica was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which called upon the DNDDF to play an exemplary role in the fundraising and donations effort in conjunction with the High Commission.