Twelve Homes, Five Repairs and £137,000: A London Concert Aims to Rebuild a Westmoreland Fishing Community

• A London concert set out to raise £137,000 for Melissa-hit Westmoreland
• The plan: rebuild 12 homes, repair five and replace fishermen’s boats
• A retired church minister helped the organiser find the community
• She asked 274 churches to give £500 each

A Jamaican proverb gave its name to a London fundraiser with a clear goal: to rebuild homes for families in Westmoreland who lost almost everything to Hurricane Melissa. The Voice reported that the WI STILL STANDING: One One Coco Full Basket Fundraising Concert for Jamaica would take place on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at The Advent Centre in west London.

Organiser Joan Reid visited the island earlier in the year. “I went over to Jamaica for two reasons to see the devastation for myself and to seek out a community that we could help,” she said. With the help of a retired church minister living in the affected areas, she found one: Folly Hill in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, along with Foster’s Grove.

“The Folly Hill residents in White House Westmoreland were devastated, losing not just their home but their means of income as the majority of the residents were fishermen,” Ms Reid said. “Despite heeding the warnings to take their boats and pots inland, the magnitude of the storm meant everything was destroyed.” The project aims to rebuild 12 homes, repair five others that were severely damaged and help fishermen buy new boats and pots, at an estimated cost of £137,000.

Ms Reid made a direct appeal to congregations. Explaining the proverb, she said small efforts added together could reach the big goal, and put the arithmetic plainly: “2740 people giving £50, is in effect 274 churches giving £500.” She also described the trauma she saw, with some survivors refusing to talk about the storm because it was too stressful.

The plan links two things Melissa took together in coastal Westmoreland: the roof and the livelihood. Rebuilding a house without replacing the boat that pays for it leaves a family exposed. For diaspora churches considering such appeals, the value is in a named community, a costed list of homes and a local contact on the ground, in this case a retired minister, who can see that the money becomes concrete, roofing and boats.

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