By Alison Crosbie | CEO
Building a Home. Building a Future.
At a Glance: January to June 2026
3 university partners onboarded | 22 students placed at schools | 20+ schools serviced | 1247 beneficiaries reached
A Message from Our CEO
Dear Friends, Partners, and Supporters,
The first half of 2026 has been a season of growth. Three prominent universities in and around Cape Town have partnered with us, and in just six months, 22 students have been onboarded and placed directly into schools, reaching over 1247 beneficiaries across more than 20 community sites. That is not a small thing. That is the work, and we are proud of it.
This growth has also brought our greatest operational challenge into sharper focus than ever before: we do not have a permanent home.
Every morning, our students, interns and staff travel from their homes or universities straight to their school placements. They arrive ready to serve, and they do so with commitment and care. But when the school day ends, when holidays arrive, when administration needs to happen, when meetings need to be held, when training is due, there is nowhere to go. No office. No gathering point. No table around which to sit and plan, reflect, and grow.
The Brick-by-Brick campaign exists to change that. A permanent home is not a luxury for us. It is the missing infrastructure that would allow everything else we do to function at a higher level, reach more people, and become more sustainable.
We remain fully committed to that goal, and we thank you for standing with us as we build toward it.
Alison Crosbie
About the Brick-by-Brick Campaign
The Brick-by-Brick campaign is raising funds to secure a permanent physical home for our organisation. We operate across more than 20 schools in the Cape Town region, delivering programmes that directly serve over 3,000 beneficiaries every year. Our students, interns and staff do this work with dedication, travelling each day from wherever they are to wherever they are needed.
What we do not have is a centre. A base. A place to return to. The Brick-by-Brick campaign is our commitment to building exactly that: four walls, a roof, and a home that supports everything and everyone who makes our work possible.
Mid-Year Progress: January to June 2026
Our Work in Schools
Our primary focus remains the delivery of services to children and communities at school sites across the greater Cape Town area. In the first half of 2026, our teams have been present at more than 20 schools, reaching over 1000 beneficiaries through structured programmes delivered on the ground, in person, by real people who show up every day.
This is service delivery in its most direct form, and we are proud of the reach and consistency we have maintained.
University Partnerships
One of the most significant developments of this reporting period is the formalisation of partnerships with three prominent universities in and around Cape Town. In just the first six months of 2026, 22 students have been onboarded and deployed to school placements as part of their practical training.
This growth is something we celebrate. It also brings with it a challenge we cannot ignore.
Because we have no central premises, students proceed directly from their universities or homes to their school placements. Connection, supervision, training and mentorship happen as best they can, through digital channels and scheduled check-ins. But the reality is that in-person connection cannot be replicated online. Students (and staff, volunteers and interns) want a place to come to. They want to be guided in person, to belong to something with a physical address, to gather with peers and supervisors in a shared space. Without that, retention is difficult, onboarding is fragmented, and the sense of community that sustains long-term commitment is hard to build.
And it is not only clinical students we lose. Without a physical home, we are also unable to attract additional colleges whose students could assist with administration, accounting, fundraising and support roles. We have no space to offer them. We have no place for them to be. This limits our capacity at a time when our reach is growing.
Building a Responsible Organisation
A significant focus of 2025 and 2026 has been the migration to fully paperless processes across our organisation. This was a deliberate investment in our long-term sustainability, ensuring that our systems, records and workflows are efficient, transparent and fit for the future.
A future-focused NGO must be a responsible steward of its operations. The same commitment that drives us to go paperless is the commitment that drives us to secure a permanent home: both are about building something that lasts.
Why Four Walls Change Everything
Every day that we operate without a permanent home, we feel its absence. Here is what that means in practice:
A permanent home solves all of this. It gives our teams a place to return to. It gives volunteers and supporters a door to walk through. It gives our work the infrastructure it needs to grow.
Looking Ahead: July to December 2026
As we move into the second half of 2026, our priorities are clear:
We are building this organisation to last. Every step we take, whether it is onboarding a new university partner, going paperless, or reaching another 3,000 beneficiaries, is a step toward the moment we unlock a door of our own.
Thank you for believing in this work, and in the people who give it everything they have.
Brick-by-Brick Campaign | A GlobalGiving Project | Mid-Year Report 2026
Cape Town, South Africa
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