By Nikki Matthews | Chief Operating Officer
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
Winston Churchill
It has been another brilliant term of rugby, soccer, a cycle challenge, market days, learning, sharing and growing.
What gets us up in the morning is being able to give our children a safe and supportive environment to learn new skills and access new opportunities.
This term, we partnered with the fantastic team at Capitec. Volunteers from Capitec's retail, marketing and financial education divisions gave up their time to run entrepreneurial workshops with our U13s each Friday afternoon. They worked through a series of marketing-related modules, which included creating a business idea, identifying needs and target markets, financial literacy and marketing a business.
Skills required to be an entrepreneur include hard work, effective communication and resilience after disappointment. We tested these skills, hosting VUSA's first Market Day in conjunction with our first 7s tournament at the Langa Sports Grounds. Shoprite / Checkers, as always, invested generously in the children's small business, as did Nomu. Our first Market Day was launched on 3 September, a freezing, rainy, windy day. The children gave it their all and, most importantly, had a fantastic time selling their wares, from pot plants to pancakes. Thank you to everyone who supported this event.
Another highlight for the U13s was their invitation to the Independent School's Rugby Festival, hosted by Bishops in June. The children had an amazing weekend, meeting children from across the country and exploring some of Cape Town's beautiful sites (some for the first time), and playing rugby against some of the best teams in South Africa. To cap it all off, they won all of their games, playing great rugby - a massive boost to their confidence. Thank you to Coronation Fund Managers and the Bishops Prep PA for making this unforgettable experience available to our children.
Despite some initial teething problems, the Atlas Digibus programme has grown from strength to strength. It is beautiful to see children excited about learning. We had feedback from a parent who told us her child was 'too sick' to go to school for an entire week except onThursday when the bus was at her school. School staff have advised that children who are late daily are punctual on bus days. (The bus visits each of the five schools in Langa one day a week). To motivate a children to want to learn is half the battle, and we are grateful to have this vehicle to motivate and inspire our children.
To all Rugby lovers (or family and friends of rugby lovers), we have limited copies of the Official Commemorative Book of the British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa, 2021, available (a percentage of proceeds going to VUSA). This beautiful coffee table book makes for wonderful corporate gifts or gifts for loved ones. To purchase a copy, please see below.
Geoff Brownell has sadly resigned from the VUSA Board of Trustees. We thank Geoff for his valuable contribution to VUSA. He always had a kind and encouraging word and gave expert advice and counsel.
We welcome Stuart Abbott, Kay Lala-Sides and Nosipho Poswa as Trustees and look forward to this next chapter.
Thank you to all our partners, donors, volunteers, staff and friends for your support this quarter and for being part of this unique programme.
Kind regards
Brendan, Mak, Nikki
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