The Sean Connery Foundation will donate £ 6 million to help young people in Scotland and the Bahamas | People

He was born on August 25, 1930 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and died on October 31, 2020 in Nassau, Bahamas at the age of 90. The original James Bond and Oscar winner Sean Connery had a special attachment to the two places and called them both his home. Two years after his death, the Connery family has announced the birth of the Sean Connery Foundation, created with his legacy and which seeks to honor the actor through strategic grants to institutions and organizations in the two territories.

“After two years of reflection and research, we chose to focus on the communities Sean loved and on issues that reflect his beliefs, passions and legacy,” said Stephane Connery, the actor’s stepson and foundation president. “Above all, he believed that education was a force multiplier and was concerned that children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as his, would have opportunities for success. Thanks to Sean’s gift, we sincerely hope that our family grants will help young people in Scotland and the Bahamas, as well as our oceans, thrive. “It is expected that, initially, six million will be distributed by the end of this year. pounds (6,970,200 euros at the exchange rate).

Jason Connery, the actor’s son, said, “We are delighted to announce the organizations that will receive grants from the foundation in honor of my father’s legacy. Each group is doing important work with integrity, excellence and commitment. These are the values ​​that my father passed on to us ”.

Some of this year’s winners will include the University of St. Andrews, the oldest in Scotland and where the actor was made an honorary doctor of letters in 1988; the Scottish Institute of the Oceans; the Scottish Youth Film Foundation, a charity that aims to improve the lives of young people through cinema; the Scottish Fund for International Education; the Dyslexia Scotland organization; the Lyford Cay Foundation in the Bahamas, focused on helping young people get higher education; or the Cape Eleuthera Foundation, also focused on aid to education, among others.

As highlighted in the actor’s obituary, “Connery has never forgotten the two main traits that have distinguished him from the start: his humble and Scottish origin. And he took it upon himself to do more than repay both debts ”. Born in a working-class suburb of Edinburgh, Connery was the son of a truck driver and a cleaner, and he never lost his strong accent to get into movies. Before the three numbers, 007, that would change his life, he joined the British Royal Navy, later worked as a milkman and practiced bodybuilding to the point of winning third prize in a Mr. Universe contest. His image of him, inevitably linked to the gallantry of the character who brought him to world fame, kept its aura until the end of his days, when he died in his residence in the Bahamas, where he had moved permanently in 2003. .