Both panmen and management of 48 unsponsored steel orchestras (single pan, small, medium and large) received donations from Scotiabank to help in their preparation for Carnival and the Pano- rama competition.

The donations are given through the Scotiabank Foundation, which is dedicated to the development of youth, environment, sports and culture. The event took place at Scotia Centre, Park and Richmond Streets, Port of Spain, on Wednesday evening.

But despite this donation, steel orchestras are still finding it difficult to make it; earlier this week, 165 bands received sums of $10,000 (single pan) and $20,000 (conventional) from the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism in their preparations for the Carnival season.

According to one manager, "Sponsorship from corporate Trinidad and Tobago is hard; we are thankful for these donations, but the cost of preparing a band for the season is prohibitive, there are costs to preparing the instruments, uniforms, arrangers and much more.

"An arranger for a single pan band is $15,000; for a conventional, it runs from $40,000 to as much as $60,000."

Scotiabank's general manager (Marketing), Heidi Bason, said, "We have been giving donations to unsponsored bands since 1978; that is the kind of commitment the bank has to culture.

"Scotiabank gives funds to ensure that the recipients can meet some of the costs that go into putting on the 'greatest show on earth'; and we are grateful to be able to render assistance to so many deserving and dedicated artistes."