By Michelle Smith | Project Leader
This reporting period has been one of deep reflection, powerful milestones and meaningful transition at The Underdog Project. As our youth grow older and step into new chapters of their lives, we are reminded that the true impact of this work unfolds over years. What begins as a nervous first interaction with a rescue dog often grows into confidence, leadership and self-belief that carries far beyond our classroom walls.
Thanks to your support and the support of our community, our weekly Youth Builder groups have continued to provide safe, structured spaces where young people can develop emotional regulation, communication skills, empathy and responsibility through consistent work with our UnderDOGS. Across our sessions, we work with several dogs at a time, creating hundreds of meaningful engagements that benefit both youth and dogs alike. These regular interactions remain the heartbeat of our programme.
Celebrating Our Matric Graduates
This year we celebrated a milestone that felt especially significant, the graduation of our Underdog Matrics, who successfully passed their 2025 matric year.
To honour this achievement, we hosted a small but heartfelt graduation celebration where they officially graduated from The Underdog Project programme as well. Each learner received two framed photographs: one taken when they first joined us years ago, and one recent photo. Placed side by side, the images told a powerful story: not simply of growing up, but of courage, resilience and transformation.
Their reactions were unforgettable. One youth beamed and declared that the photo would hang at the front of their home so everyone who entered would see it. Another held hers close and said, “Now I need to buy a house so I can hang this in it.”
Passing matric is an enormous academic achievement in South Africa. But what we have witnessed in these young people goes far beyond academics. Over the years, they have built confidence through training and caring for our rescue dogs, learned patience and emotional awareness, and discovered strengths they did not know they possessed. Some have already begun stepping back into our space as mentors and role models for younger participants.
Once an Underdog, always an Underdog.
New School Partnership: Bel Porto
We are also excited to share a new partnership with Bel Porto School. Through this collaboration, we have welcomed five adolescent boys into our programme.
This partnership allows us to extend our impact to youth who may benefit significantly from structured emotional support and positive mentorship. Early sessions have shown promising engagement, curiosity and growing bonds with the dogs. We look forward to nurturing these relationships over the coming months.
The Underdog Dogs:
Our UnderDOGS remain at the core of everything we do. Their wellbeing, enrichment and ongoing training are prioritised in every session. The dogs are never tools in our programme but rather they are sentient partners whose needs, comfort and consent matter deeply. This ethical foundation continues to guide our growth and ensures that the work remains mutually beneficial.
This year we have started our term with welcoming six new dogs onto the programme and hopefully more in the coming months. Each dog will go through a careful integration and assessment process to ensure that the environment is supportive and enriching for them. Expanding our canine team not only allows us to reach more young people, but also provides rescue dogs with structured training, socialisation and purposeful engagement.
Looking Ahead: Paws & Potential
We are so excited to announce that we are preparing to launch our Mobile Underdog pilot, Paws & Potential, later this year. This new model ideally will allow us to bring our programme into partner schools and community spaces rather than relying solely on our fixed location.
Paws & Potential will enable us to reach youth who might otherwise face barriers to access, while maintaining the same structured, relationship-based approach that defines The Underdog Project. Our vision is to build small skilled team who can carry this model into communities with care and consistency.
This next step represents both growth and sustainability. It allows us to meet young people where they are, expand our reach responsibly, and support more rescue dogs in meaningful work.
Join Our Underdog 555 Community
As we grow, we are intentionally building stability alongside expansion. Our Underdog 555 Campaign invites 555 people around the world to commit to $10 per month in support of our core programme.
If achieved, this steady, predictable funding would fully sustain our weekly Youth Builder group, Past graduate and Peer leader groups and ensure consistent training and care for our dogs, and allow us to plan long term with confidence rather than uncertainty. Monthly support creates the foundation that makes everything else possible: from graduation celebrations to new school partnerships to the launch of Paws & Potential.
If you feel moved to become part of this global community of steady supporters, we would be deeply grateful.
With Gratitude
Every moment of teamwork between youth and dog as they learn and grow together.
Every session of consistency, stability and safety for our youth.
Every moment of patience learned through a lead held gently instead of tightly.
All of this is possible because of your belief in our work.
Thank you for walking alongside us as our youth step into adulthood with courage, and as our dogs continue to teach lessons that no textbook ever could.
With deep appreciation,
The Underdog Project Team
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By Caron Tomblin | Fundraiser
By Michelle Wilson | Operations Director
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