The Twitter Blanket Drive (TBD) is a uniquely South African, community-driven response to the needs of the poor during the winter months of the year. Initiated in 2010 by Founder, Melanie Minnaar, the Twitter Blanket Drive started with a single tweet: What if each person on Twitter donated a blanket? Since then, the Twitter Blanket Drive movement has grown exponentially. In 2012, 13 000 blankets were collected by the Twitter Blanket Drive and donated to organisations who assist the needy, homeless and indigent. Events take on the form of a “Tweetup”, whereby Twitter users tweet about donating their blankets and all enjoy a meal or drink at the collection point. For 2013, events will be held across the country on 25 May (and … [Read more...]
NEW TAX LEVIED ON COMPANIES
Tekkie Tax is a new fundraising project for a vast selection of NGO’s in the country. For the first time ever you can pay “tax” for a good cause. Tekkie Tax invites corporates to take hands with the project by getting their company and employees onboard. Mechelle de Jager, Company Liaison stated that “we urgently need the support of companies around South Africa to ensure the success of the 2013 project, we firmly believe that as a group of motivated individuals and organisations, we can achieve greater things for each of us than the sum of our individual efforts combined” For the first time ever, South Africa will have an annual fundraising event where you can choose which welfare sector you want to benefit as a result of your … [Read more...]
Memories of District Six- conversations that bring the District to life
Memories of District Six are a new series of conversations that will be held at the Homecoming Centre on Buitenkant Street once a month. Guests will be able to meet some of the people who were an integral part of the District Six landscape and enjoy their colourful memories. District Six was home to so many talented people and through the museum, artists, musicians, poets, writers and academics will share their memories over tea and Koeksuster. First in the series is on Saturday May 11 and features artist Sandra McGregor – known fondly as Onse artist of District Six. Details: “Memories of District Six Series - A conversation with Sandra McGregor: Onse Artist in District Six” Venue: The Homecoming Centre, 15 A Buitenkant Street, … [Read more...]
Happy Sindane laid to rest in style
Happy Sindane laid to rest in style Bataung donates a memorial tombstone worth R70 000 for Happy Sindane, The initial stone was supposed to be for R30 000 but the Life happy lived deserved a better send off and the CEo Lebohang Khitsane raised the stakes and decided that the gift has to be bigger, more stylish and of a new design. It took almost a day to manufacture the new tombstone in our Katlehong factory in the east of Johannesburg, the pressure was on since the family approval was only received on Thursday afternoon. Our deadline was tight, the team worked overtime to ensure that the tombstone was installed before the 10am funeral in Tweefontein cemetery in Mpumalanga on Saturday 6th April 2013. The tragedy of happy Sindane … [Read more...]
KZN Casual Day stars raise over 26 000 sticker donations
Casual Day, South Africa’s most-loved fundraising initiative for persons with disabilities, raised a record amount of R22.2 million in 2012, beating the previous year’s tally by more than R2 million. The final audited amount was recently announced at a roadshow function at the Jaipur Palace in Durban to honour Casual Day’s top performers in KZN. The Association for People with Disabilities (APD) KwaZulu Natal, was named the top performing participating APD in the country, raising donations for over 26 000 stickers. APD KZN Director Sheryl Naidoo received the accolade, thanking all participants for their hard work. Tongaat Hulett received a special award for their support of the APD’s Casual Day campaign. “This is really an … [Read more...]
Casual Day raises R22 million for persons with disabilities
PRETORIA. 13 MARCH 2013. Casual Day, South Africa’s most-loved fundraising project for persons with disabilities, raised a record amount of R22 million during last year’s campaign, a ten percent improvement on the previous year’s tally. This was announced at a recent roadshow function in Pretoria celebrating Casual Day’s top performers. Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities (NCPPDSA), an NPO mandated to improve education, inclusivity, accessibility and social integration for persons with disabilities. Alma School in Pretoria, a school that provides special education for children with disabilities between the ages of three and 21, was the top performer in Gauteng during … [Read more...]
Creative practice in public space explored at Thinking the City
The Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) partners with the Public Culture CityLab (African Centre for Cities, UCT) on Thinking the City, from 12-15 March 2013. This series of talks and discussions seeks to strengthen thinking and practice at the intersection of culture and public space, particularly in Cape Town. These sessions will take place at the Infecting the City Festival Centre (6 Spin Street) from 10:30 – 12:00 daily, from 12-15 March 2013, and are presented as part of the Africa Centre’s annual Infecting the City Public Art Festival. Cape Town has a long history of public art and culture, and has more recently embraced the notion of a ‘creative city’. This is an exciting prospect for creative … [Read more...]
Casual Day’s top performers announced
PORT ELIZABETH, EASTERN PROVINCE. 28 January, 2013. The top performers in the Eastern Cape in the 2012 Casual Day fundraising campaign were announced earlier this week at a roadshow function in Port Elizabeth. The Association for Persons with Disabilities (APD), Nelson Mandela Bay, was named the top performing participating NGO in the region – and in the top ten in the country. Mr Brian Bezuidenhout, the organisation’s executive director who was there to receive the accolade, thanked his team for their hard work. Buli G Ngomane, General Manager, Corporate Affairs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, did the honours and treated the audience to a moving song during the proceedings. This was one of a series of functions to thank … [Read more...]
Museum of South Africa – Summer School Public discussion
Join Iziko Museums of South Africa on Saturday, 16 February, for a public discussion, entitled: Uncontained: opening the Community Arts Project archive – “What do we mean by ‘hidden voices’ in the arts after apartheid?” This discussion, co-hosted with the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, will explore the above-mentioned question. It arises from the exhibition, Uncontained: opening the Community Arts Project archive. The show mainly introduces linocuts, a medium intimately associated with both the now defunct community arts project movement and the history of modern black art practice in South Africa. Date: Saturday, 16 February 2013 Time: 11h00–12h30 Venue: Iziko South African National … [Read more...]
24 underprivileged boys pledge to run to raise funds for children fighting life-threatening conditions.
The Gift of the Giver Marathon, Eldorado Park 24th of February 2013 A group of 24 underprivileged boys from Kersiedorp, Eldorado Park, have pledged to raise money for children fighting life-threatening conditions, setting aside their own impoverished conditions to run in the Gift of the Giver Marathon to raise funds for the Reach for a Dream Foundation. The boys are part of Growing Champions, a project that works on growing leadership and character development in young men whose communities face gang violence and drug infestation through life skills development and soccer training. Growing Champions personal development coach, Samantha Toweel-Moore, posed a challenge to impoverished children of Kersiedorp. She asked them if they would … [Read more...]
Mbembe considers cultural mediation at public lecture
South African-based, Cameroon-born philosopher, intellectual and social theorist, Professor Achille Mbembe, will deliver a public lecture on Tuesday 26 February at 18:30 in Hiddingh Hall. The lecture is presented by the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) in collaboration with the Michaelis School of Fine Art. His address will consider the importance of radical mediation between cultures, translating experience and creating mutual understanding across international borders. Mbembe is widely accepted as one of the most significant thinkers, theoretically examining the links between Africa, the contemporary world, and the way that history in and of Africa has impacted on notions of the contemporary. His seminal … [Read more...]
Tekkie Tax allows donors to select charity of choice
The organisers of the well-known Casual Day campaign have launched a new annual fund raising campaign - Tekkie Tax for Friday 31 May 2013. Donors can select beneficiaries of their choice, selected from five main categories; animals, basic community welfare, children, disability or education. With a 20-year history of success, accountability and transparency, the organisation is spreading its wings to include more welfare organisations than ever before, giving South Africans an opportunity to give according to where their hearts lie. Campaign endorsed Some of the biggest NGOs in the country endorse the campaign: •Child Welfare SA •SOS Children's Villages •SPCA Tshwane •Alzheimer's Society •Hospice •South African … [Read more...]
Casual Day welcomes Edcon as main sponsor
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. 3 February, 2013. The organisers of much-loved fundraising initiative, Casual Day, have announced that Edcon, South Africa’s leading retailing group, has come on board as the main sponsor this year - for a period of three years. Casual Day is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities (NCPPDSA), a non-profit organisation mandated to improve education, inclusivity, accessibility and social integration for persons with disabilities. Casual Day has raised over R170 million for disability organisations since its inception 18 years ago. Edcon has committed to a three-year contract as principal sponsor, with the aim of raising R6 million in sticker donations at all Edcon … [Read more...]
CAPE TOWN’S BEAT supports Toy Story
Cape Town, South Africa, December 2012 Heart 104.9FM, Cape Town’s beat, in conjunction with GAME and local non – profit organisation (NPO) Newkidz on the Block, is aiming to encourage the public to donate even more educational and recreational toys for the specific needs areas. Heart 104.9FM is aiming to encourage the station’s listeners to volunteer to help children in need by making donations towards the initiative at GAME Stores in the Western Province. The Toy Story campaign commenced 1st October and will continue until 17th December 2012, with Heart 104.9FM DJs and GAME stores supporting 40 orphanages in their areas. Heart 104.9FM and GAME have collected over 2, 273 toys already since 1 October! A new division of GAME, … [Read more...]
Hotel collects gifts for Nazareth House
Tis the season for giving and what better opportunity than to bring some Christmas cheer to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. At this time of the year many children and elderly folk have little to look forward to so as part of their social commitment Mandela Rhodes Place Hotel and Spa on St George's Mall are collecting gifts for Nazareth House Cape Town. This non-profit-organisation (NPO) with facilities in Vredehoek and Elsie's River is a well loved icon in the City and celebrated 130 years of service to the poor and needy of the Western Cape. The Hotel is inviting people to donate small gifts for each of the residents and to deliver them to the Atrium of the Hotel (on Wale St and St George's Mall) where the magnificent … [Read more...]
