The cofounder of Bermuda Is Love has been honoured by the Hamilton Rotary Club for his work in creating a more just society where the basic needs of all are met.

Aaron Crichlow was awarded for his “exemplary services to mankind” at a special ceremony at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Paget yesterday.

Bermuda Is Love, which gained charitable status in September, aims to "encourage collaboration, education, activism, advocacy and love for our community and the environment“.

Its goal is to ensure everyone has access to food, education, housing, healthcare, clothing, justice and a thriving environment.

Mr Crichlow, 29, a lawyer, said: “Bermuda Is Love is essentially about building a community of love where everyone’s basic needs are met.

“While I was at university in 2020, Covid hit and I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to achieve.

“It became about how to create a better world where people don’t have to worry about where their food is coming from or what house they can live in, and are able to flourish.”

Bermuda Is Love was launched in August 2020 by a group of friends wanting to have a positive impact in society.

It organises trash clean-ups, blood drives, clothing drives, clothing giveaways, upcycling events and community gardens. Mr Crichlow revealed that the charity has organised approximately 300 events since its launch.

He said while the events helped those in need, the group’s goal was to create systemic change to remove the need.

“These initiatives are helpful but they don’t necessarily address the reasons people don’t have access to food or affordable housing, clothing, or whatever it might be.

“We try to create change systemically so we are not just band-aiding these issues but fully creating a society where everyone’s basic needs are met.”

Mr Crichlow said that the Bermuda Is Love “movement” was inspired by the Black power organisation the Black Panther Party, founded in 1966.

He added: “They were all about community change and community action.

“The Black Panther Party had survival programmes to find solutions for the Black community; they created a revolution in the hearts and minds of people in America.

“We believe we are trying to create a revolution within the hearts and minds of society. For Bermuda Is Love, we are trying to create a whole framework.”

Mr Crichlow said he would like to see a Bill of Economic Rights to ensure that economic needs are met.

He said: “What is the point in having the right to vote if you can’t eat or don’t have a place to sleep?”

Mr Crichlow holds a master of arts in the philosophy of religion and ethics from the University of Birmingham, a master of science in law, business and management from the University of Law, and a bachelor of laws (honours) from the University of Kent in England, along with a bachelor of arts in philosophy with a minor in law and society from Dalhousie University in Canada.

He was Called to the Bermuda Bar in 2022 and left his job with Cox Hallett Wilkinson last May to fulfil his passion of “trying to create a world where everyone’s basic needs are met and everyone truly acts on their duty to love one another”.

Mr Crichlow said becoming a charity would help to fulfil the goal to expand Bermuda Is Love’s breakfast programme, from bringing free meals to students of Elliot Primary School once a week, to all public schools.

• For more information about Bermuda Is Love, visitwww.bermudaislove.com, and Facebook and Instagram pages @BermudaIsLove