CIGO UK Campaigns
The Cayman Islands and Great Britain
The Government of the Cayman Islands is launching a number of public engagement campaigns to raise awareness, knowledge and understanding of the relationship that exists between the Cayman Islands and Great Britain, a relationship that goes back to the original British settlers of the hitherto uninhabited Islands in 1658.
The overarching objective of the Cayman Islands Government Office UK Campaigns will be to create stronger links to the UK and gain support from key stakeholders – with an emphasis on political and business groups. The Campaigns will look to provide an alternative narrative to counter the continuing debate about the long term viability of offshore financial centres. The Campaigns will aim to build a more positive, informed and balanced view of the Cayman Islands – emphasising the message that Cayman is a Great British success story. The Campaigns will harness multiple platforms and touchpoints to connect to key stakeholders – based on a clear and consistent narrative.
The campaigns will be based around two significant milestone events: the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II granting the Islands its own Royal Coat of Arms in May 2018; and the 60th anniversary of Cayman being granted its first constitution in June 2019.
Mission
To raise awareness of the history of the Cayman Islands and its relationship with the UK by creating a narrative that will be used for collaboration, education, engagement and partnership.
Connections & Partnerships
Through the campaign, the Cayman Government will look to foster closer co-operations and partnerships with British politicians, institutions, schools, businesses and individuals – see target stakeholders. Dragon and CIG will develop a recommended calendar of engagement incorporating events, media placement, online and digital initiatives and existing Governmental engagements planned for 2018 building up to the anniversary of the Constitution in July 2019.
A key driver of the Campaign will be to engage and attract support from a wide group of stakeholders as listed below. We want to encourage these stakeholders to be part of the Cayman success story to encourage advocacy and support through the campaign. Examples of this will include partnerships with local businesses, possible twin towns with UK towns with a connection to Cayman, competitions, sponsorships and engagement through a Cayman Campaign page on the CIGO UK website when it is developed.
Background
The Cayman Islands is one of Britain’s most successful Overseas Territories, with a 360-year relationship that goes back to the first British settlers who arrived on the uninhabited Islands in 1658. The first settlers were a Cornishman called Bawden and a Welshman called Walter – both said to have been members of Cromwell’s forces in the West Indies. Illiterate, their names were subsequently morphed into ‘Bodden’ and ‘Watler’, both still prominent family names on the Islands today.
In the next 300 years, the Cayman Islanders battled against the elements and grinding poverty, simply to survive. It has only been in the last 60 years – since secession from Jamaica and its own nationhood – that Cayman has risen to become one of the world’s top global financial centres and a leading high-end tourism destination.
Throughout the 360 years, thick and thin, the Islands have remained steadfastly loyal to Britain. Many of its citizens carry a British passport, drive on the left and the Caymanian flag incorporates the Union Jack. Many links to the origins of the first settlers can also be found in Cayman. Cayman has its own ‘Cayman pasty’, Rugby is the national sport, and the dialect can be traced to UK counties, including ‘Areckly as a direct equivalent of the Cornish ‘Dreckly’. Young Caymanians are often keen participants in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
Milestones
In May 2018, Cayman celebrated the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II granting the Islands its own Royal Coat of Arms and in 2019 Cayman celebrated the 60th anniversary of being granted its first constitution. Both events were milestones in the Cayman Islands’ relationship and continued close ties to Britain. The Cayman Islands Government UK office held a major celebratory event on 14 May 2018 in the Durbar Court of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, hosted by the Foreign Secretary.