Charity auctioneer Roland Peens knocked down 15 rare wine items at last year’s annual charity sale, raising close to R274 000 that will now be invested in various outreach programmes run by the two organisations, which aim to invest in the future of the local young people.
Beneficiary representatives Theo Kemp, executive manager for the Breytenbach Centre and Nkosana Mguni, manager of the Hope Through Action centre in Franschhoek Valley, were each presented with a cheque for the proceeds by Nederburg Auction representative Inger Truter.
The Breytenbach Centre is a multidisciplinary cultural centre that provides a platform for the youth to gain access to the arts and Life skills, helping them to make responsible choices, while the Hope Through Action project reaches out to young people through the medium of sport.
“The funding we’ve received will be used to support our programmes for young women and men from the Mbekweni and Franschhoek Valley communities where our sports centres are based,” said Sandra Randall, project co-ordinator for Hope Through Action.
“We run separate life skills and personal development programmes for boys (Brothers in Action) and girls (WGILS – Women and Girls in Leadership through Sport) at each centre. The programmes provide vulnerable young people with the opportunity to meet in a safe environment to interact with their peers, and gain knowledge about social issues that impact their lives, together with the necessary skills to address these issues.”
Striving to create opportunities for the youth from vulnerable communities, Theo Kemp said the funding received for the Breytenbach Centre will be used to continue with its literacy programme for Grade one to three learners, who come from homes where they have very little exposure to books and are in overcrowded schools. “We reach out to 100 learners and work intensively with them on a weekly basis.”
The proceeds will also be used to benefit the Centre’s Kaleidoscope drama group of five adults, who are all from disadvantaged communities. “We offered them training and they are now facilitators at the centre and create an annual puppetry production that travels to farms,” he said.
Theo also mentioned a third project - the centre’s writing school – focused on abused women – and said he would also like to see it receive a portion of the funding to help the project to expand. “We so appreciate the value that this funding will bring to all our projects. Such initiatives really do make a difference”, he says.
View this short video on the beneficiaries.
This is all the more reason for supporters of the 2016 Nederburg charity auction to bid big at this year’s event, which takes place on Saturday 17 September, at the close of the main auction.
The 2016 charity auction collection will be announced soon.