Vintage with Love

About the women who started it all and the benefiting charities:
Jacquie Myburgh Chemaly is a journalist and media consultant - and lover of all things beautiful. A former editor of ELLE, Style, Food and Home Entertaining and VISI, Jacquie is also co-owner of jewellery brand The Makery and is an avid consumer of vintage fashion.

Leigh Ord is a teacher by training and with her background in education, a charity fundraiser to sponsor literacy training was a no-brainer. Leigh's charity credentials are also impeccable. A co-founder of the Charities Unlimited Golf Day, Leigh and the other committee members have raised more than R5-million over the past 20 years for distribution to charities around South Africa. Leigh has always had a passion for fashion and has over the years collected pieces that today her daughters (20 years later) are now wearing.

In Cape Town, Debbie Smuts is the owner of The Grosvenor Guest House in Simonstown. Also a former teacher, Debbie has gathered together a team of amazing women in the mother city to launch Vintage with Love Cape Town.

About the charities:

Proceeds from Vintage with Love Johannesburg will go to:

THE CLICK FOUNDATION: The Click Foundation was established in response to the education crisis in South Africa. The aim of the Foundation is to innovate and test non-conventional, out of the box, technology-based education solutions and programmes that have potential to scale and meaningfully impact education for individuals.
In January 2012, the Click Foundation began implementing a foundation phase English literacy program called Reading Eggs. Reading Eggs is an online, phonetics-based program that uses reading games, activities, songs, animations and rewards to create a fun and motivational learning experience that supports the initial acquisition of literacy skills.
www.clickfoundation.co.za

THE LINK: The Link is a Non Profit Organisation which supports the development of literacy and numeracy in children for whom English is a second language, and who attend low income schools in Johannesburg. The organisation was founded in 2010 by Margi Bashall, a teacher, who was inspired by The Shine Centre. It is managed and staffed by volunteers; members of the community who are committed to making a difference in education.
The Link is recognised by Gauteng educational authorities, and has permission to operate during school hours and work with children in Grade 2 and Grade 3 who are identified by valid testing to be at risk of not achieving their potential.
They currently have 9 Link centres operating at schools in Johannesburg, and through their network are reaching approximately 700 children every week.
http://thelinkliteracyproject.co.za/

COLUMBA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: The core of Columba's work is with young people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, many of whom live in poverty, in child-headed households and in communities beset by HIV/AIDS, limited employment opportunities and poor educational opportunities.
Many of the young people they work with do not believe in their own capacity to make a positive difference in their own lives or in their schools and communities. Columba Leadership works with principals, teachers, local community members and corporate partners to engage young people in a programme of leadership development that elicits and unleashes their latent potential to be agents of positive social change. They are fundamentally committed to the belief that leadership potential is within each individual, especially those who have weathered tough times, and that effective youth development must empower young people by drawing out their inner greatness.
www.columba.org.za

THE LUNCHBOX FUND: The Lunchbox Fund is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing a daily meal for orphaned and vulnerable children.Receiving food encourages these children to stay in school and obtain their education. When a child stays in school, his or her risk of HIV infection, abuse and unwanted pregnancies is greatly reduced.
Regular lunch programs increase enrolment at schools and reduce truancy rates. Students participating in a school feeding program attend school more frequently than those who do not. Academic performance also improves with test scores increasing in students who have access to a daily meal through a school feeding program.
Today, 19.6% of all children in South Africa are orphans, with approximately 1.9 Million of those children orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS. Unemployment is a severe problem where The Lunchbox Fund works, resulting in many of the students at their partner schools not having access to adequate nutrition or basic health care.
The simple act of providing each child with protein-rich peanut butter sandwiches and a piece of fruit, or hearty soups, stews with vegetables or enriched porridge, makes a substantial difference as it nurtures and encourages each child's attendance and performance at school. Not only is it often their only guaranteed meal of a day, but children are more likely to attend and stay in school to obtain this basic sustenance.
www.thelunchboxfund.org

REALEMA TEACHER INTERN PROGRAMME, ST JOHNS COLLEGE: Teacher shortages in South Africa have reached epidemic levels, affecting not only the quality of education that our country's children receive, but also their ability to develop to their full potential and follow their dreams. The St John’s-Realema Internship Programme offers passionate and dedicated matric learners from Masibambane College in Orange Farm a sponsored teacher’s internship at St John’s College and other Johannesburg schools, while studying for a teaching degree at UNISA. The candidates will not only receive academic and financial support, but will also be given the opportunity to gather four years’ invaluable work experience in the classrooms at one of the leading schools in South Africa.
http://www.stjohnsfoundation.co.za/communityMasibambaneInternship.php

Proceeds from Vintage with Love Cape Town will go to:
Partners for Possibility

Partners for Possibility is a creative solution to South Africa’ education crisis – it is a co-action, co-learning partnership between School Principals and Business Leaders, enabling social cohesion through partnerships, and empowering principals to become change leaders in their schools and communities.

The Partners for Possibility Programme facilitates cross-sectoral reciprocal partnerships between Business, Government and the Social Sector.

www.pfp4sa.org

Shine Literacy

Shine Literacy is an award-winning leader in Foundation Phase literacy innovation in South Africa. Since its inception in 2000, Shine has taken an entrepreneurial approach to tackling the country’s stubborn and unacceptably low literacy rates.

Focusing on developing the reading, writing and speaking skills of Grade Two and Three children from disadvantaged communities, Shine aims to support children to engage effectively with learning by the time they finish the Foundation Phase of schooling. In 2017 they will operate in 71 schools in four provinces.

www.shineliteracy.org.za

Chic Mamas Do Care

The vision of Chic Mamas is to support education and build bridges between communities through sustainable fundraising and to promote the spirit of volunteerism.

They are “Mamas” who are concerned about the children of South Africa and their future. They are passionate about education and they believe the importance of Early Childhood Development: the opportunity for each child to grow in a safe, stimulating environment.

To this end, Chic Mamas have created a chic, fun and sustainable way of fundraising, to support educational projects in underprivileged areas around the country.

They sell excellent, gently worn, no longer wanted clothing through four charity outlets situated in Bergvliet, Hout Bay, Sea Point and Greyton in the Cape. They’ve recently expanded their operation to Durban. Once a month they host a Swap4Charity party, where participants can exchange their good quality items for tokens, which can be redeemed against future sales. All clothing and accessories are donated from individual supporters, clothing retailers, boutiques and designers.

With the idea of reducing, reusing, recycling no longer wanted, good quality garments and goods, Chic Mamas create sustainable – eco friendly – funding and continue to have a positive impact on the environment.

www.chicmamasdocare.org

Kidz2Kidz

The Kidz2Kidz Trust is the custodian of the Kidz2Kidz Projects and the Santa Shoebox Project. They are one of the leading children’s charity organisations in South Africa. They host workshops to curb bullying and offer term-by- term support programs for under-resourced facilities.

Another of their projects aims to set up libraries in underprivileged areas’ schools to encourage kids to read in a safe space.

www.kidz2kidz.co.za

The Uphawu Community Development

This initiative was established by law firm STBB employee Mondeka Mabibini and has, as members, three other STBB employees.

In 2017 Uphawu launched a new project, the Fundani Reading Club (‘fundani’ meaning ‘Let’s read!’) for the youth of the Samora Machel informal settlement in Philippi.

Mondeka’s research shows that children from impoverished communities such as this would greatly benefit from productive ways to pass their time after school in the afternoons engaged in meaningful activities, the lack of which can leave these children vulnerable to negative elements like gangs, illegal drugs and sexual abuse. Improving their reading skills, providing access to literature, and creating a love for reading and a reading culture in these children gives them a sense of self and their place in the world and helps them to complete their formal education.