Sandals Island Challenge hits £100,000 fund-raising target

FALMOUTH, Trelawny — The Sandals Foundation Island Challenge Jamaica has reached its £100,000 fund-raising target, paving the way for the purchase of critical equipment to help restore neonatal and paediatric services at Falmouth Public General Hospital nearly one year after Hurricane Melissa devastated the facility.

The milestone was reached on Sunday as participants took on day three of the four-day endurance challenge, completing a 21-kilometre half-marathon through Falmouth, with the route taking them past the hospital that has been at the heart of this year’s fund-raising effort.

The achievement represents a major boost for the hospital which suffered extensive damage when the record-breaking Hurricane Melissa struck sections of Jamaica as a Category 5 system on October 28, 2025. Falmouth Public General Hospital lost much of its roofing and, consequently, critical medical equipment, furniture and appliances.