The ADRC Trust has been established by the Chalmers family in memory of their son and brother Alistair David Robert Chalmers, who died in 2012, aged just 31. Alistair wrote in both poetry and prose, and his book The Dust on the Path was published in 2011. He was also an accomplished musician, photographer and artist. An exhibition of his photography and works of art was staged in 2013. In 2015, a number of the poems from The Dust on the Path were set to music in a song cycle for Soprano and Orchestra by Maestro Joseph Vella. The premiere of this work was performed at the 2015 Victoria Arts Festival, and was performed to acclaim by Miriam Cauchi and the European Union Chamber Orchestra at the Manoel Theatre on the opening night of the 2016 International Spring Orchestra Festival.
Alistair obtained a prize winning, first class Honours degree from Bristol University in Hispanic Studies, and spoke Spanish and Portuguese fluently. He later attended medical school in Dundee and Edinburgh, but his studies were interrupted because of illness. He travelled extensively in Latin America and worked in the favelas and shanty towns of Brazil and Peru teaching under-privileged children. He also taught in East Timor, shortly after the end of the civil war there. He was a strong believer in social justice, and in providing opportunities to the young to encourage them to use their talents. Malta, Scotland, music, culture, Hispanic studies, the protection of heritage, the environment and the sea were all important to Alistair.
The ADRC Trust will seek to support those causes that were important to Alistair Chalmers - encouraging talent in the young, Hispanic studies, the visual and performing arts, and the heritage and environment of Malta and Scotland. Apart from commissioning a number of compositions and awarding certain individual bursaries, the Trust has already been active in providing meaningful support to a number of initiatives that the Trustees believe fall within its scope, including the Spanish and Latin American Studies Department at the University of Malta, the Manoel Theatre Toi Toi educational programme for children, the Spanish Maltese Cultural Centre, Din l-Art Helwa, the International Spring Orchestra Festival, Book Aid and the National Trust of Scotland.