gold Youth
gold-youth identifies South African youth who are at risk and develops them into purpose driven role models through its award-winning, peer driven, training and education programme. gold-youth creates a path to better life opportunities for its graduates that changes their life trajectory and impacts their communities.
Our work with gold-youth, through the FirstRand Foundation, now gives youth in 21 schools across the country the opportunity to pursue a career at all levels of the food system from production to distribution. Studies show this sector is expected to grow dramatically in the next 20 years as the world’s demand for food increases. This pilot will directly address issues of food security, skills development and educational support – focus areas of our social investment programme. One more way DirectAxis contributes to ending hunger by 2030.
We’ll follow the stories of six unique individuals and watch the change that the gold-youth model offers. To read more on gold-youth and their important work, visit www.goldyouth.org
Turfhall Cheshire Home
Some of our staff volunteered to start an initiative called #Spekkies4Change in aid of the Turfhall Chesire Home. The home provides 24-hour specialised residential care to 60 adults from previously disadvantaged communities. Each staff volunteer chose a school in their community to help them grow Spekkies. The spekboom is an evergreen that tackles carbon emission like no other plant. Not only does the initiative teach learners the value of a greener world, but the spekkies are also donated to the home for the residents to sell at their regular collection point.
Learning in Reach
Learning in Reach provides inclusive solutions to help combat the challenges faced in the areas of Early Childhood Development. They’ve created a model centre with progressive teaching methods to deliver quality education. Our staff volunteers got in touch with one of their ECDs, called Little Castles, to build toilets, pigeon holes and create 20 calming kits filled with tools to calm children in need of emotional support. Each kit includes playdough, finger puppets and ribbon dancers. Their ECD Parent Lending Library has also been stocked with an additional 840 books.
Saartjie Baartman Centre
The Saartjie Baartman Centre partners with other organisations to develop an on-site multi-agency service delivery for the effective management, treatment and prevention of violence against women and children. Our staff volunteers collected 50 handbags and filled them with basic toiletries for the residence and distributed them on Women’s Day to help give the women a head start when they leave the Centre.
www.saartjiebaartmancentre.org.za
Langa Cheshire Home
Langa Cheshire Home forms part of the Cheshire South African Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance. The Home provides residential care and accommodation for people living with disabilities who are unable to live without the kind of care that they offer. We raised funds and initiated collection drives to provide the items they needed such as electrical appliances, bedding and kitchen utensils. These items were handed over to the home on Mandela Day and our volunteers spent the day cleaning residents rooms, engaging with the residents and tending the garden.
Parklands Primary School
Parklands Primary School in Hanover Park has 860 learners from the surrounding community. We invited the Fire Department to join our staff volunteers for one of our volunteering initiatives. The firefighters demonstrated a variety of their fire prevention programs and showed the learners what to do in the event of a fire. The learners were also able to explore the fire truck and enjoy the packed treats that our volunteers prepared for the day.
9 Miles Project
We have partnered with the 9 Miles Project that provides mentorships and support for youth from coastal informal settlements in Cape Town, Elands Bay and St Frances Bay. The youth are included in our company induction program and are provided with one of the full entrepreneurial manuals that we’ve created to be used at a 4-week entrepreneurial Project 9 course. The course equips participants with soft skills required when job seeking such as customer service, interview skills, as well as skills to start their own business. The project also allows new employees to partake in our volunteering.
Hewlin Compassion
Hewlin Compassion an NPO aims to alleviate the hardships of vulnerable people in the Kraaifontein area. The organisation provides educational, leadership and developmental activities that promote moral excellence, self-confidence, community support and positive opportunities for youth-at-risk. Our staff volunteers raised funds in aid of their WonByOne campaign which assists people living on the streets and also provided snacks and refreshments for their Class of 2019, ‘the Crossnights’. The Crossnights are matriculants of Masibambane Secondary School who needed space to study at night. They were invited to attend our Financial Literacy Workshop at our campus which provided them with skills to start their new journey into financial liberation.
Rise Against Hunger
World Hunger Day is celebrated in May of each year. The DirectAxis and Cape Town City FC teams rose to the occasion with Rise Against Hunger. Together we prepared enough meals to feed 15 000 people.
Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organisation that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilising the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030. Our staff volunteers have packed over 69 869 relief meals in the past three years.
LOFOB
The League of Friends of the Blind (LOFOB) is a Non-Governmental Organisation that caters to the needs of blind and visually impaired individuals. The organisation provides the visually impaired with skills to live independently all over South Africa and across the African continent. Our staff volunteers collected children’s clothing and donated them to LOFOB. On the day of the handover, our volunteers assisted Grade R learners with reading and drew a mural for the class.
Beacon View Primary
Beacon View Primary is located in Mitchell’s Plain and provides schooling for 1 345 learners from the community. Our staff volunteers refurbished a vacant classroom at the school and turned it into a school library for the learners. Space was created to allow the learners to read, do their homework and improve their literacy skills.
Youth Solutions Africa
Youth Solutions Africa strives to bring about social change through sustainable development and the empowerment of previously disadvantaged youth with children. Y.S.A takes a holistic approach by networking with other organisations and service providers to help raise a village. Our staff volunteers spent four hours at the organisation to prepare lunch, play with the children in the park and to clean the Centre. After their first visit, they raised funds and bought much-needed cutlery and groceries.
Sunnyside Old Age Home
Sunnyside Lodge Home offers nursing care for the elderly and is based in Plumstead. Our staff volunteers hosted a pamper session for the residents, massaging their feet, painted their nails and had their makeup done. We ended the day with live entertainment, bingo and handing out prizes to the winners.
Capricorn Primary School
Capricorn Primary School in Vrygrond provides schooling to 713 learners from the community. For Mandela Day, our staff volunteers and their friends and family members used their 67 minutes to build and beautify the Capricorn Primary School’s playgrounds. With the assistance of our dedicated staff volunteers, we contributed towards creating a safe and child-friendly environment that will help current and future learners to develop their motor skills.