CORPORATE SOCIAL INVESTMENT
We believe in the importance of education and are passionate about recycling, reducing waste and giving back to the community.
OUR COMMUNITY
Focus on iThemba
Located on the Ithemba Campus in Hillcrest Kwazulu-Natal, Focus on iThemba is a local non-profit organisation with a vision to 'Grow Hearts and Minds'. Rooted in the belief that every child has potential, the dynamic organisation aims to provide bridges of hope for life-altering positive change by investing in children through quality education. The Collies Group has been investing in quality education for a number of years, and since partnering with Focus on iThemba in 2011, have afforded many children the opportunity to benefit from access to quality education. We are currently supporting two bright young learners in the iThemba Scholars Programme at Waterfall Schools, where their tuition, books and stationery costs are covered in full. The donor-funded programme currently accomodates 12 scholars ranging from Grade 000 to 6 and aims to support their educational journeys right up to Grade 12. Ultimately their goal is to have 30 learners in their programme, two per grade. Waterfall Schools, encompassing Waterfall Pre-Primary, Waterfall Preparatory and Waterfall College are members of ISASA (Independent Schools Association of South Africa) and offer quality, affordable education that promotes holistic growth and development of a child.
Expanding our support to investing in early childhood development initiatives, The Collies Group also recognize the value of the non-profit's Ithemba Educare Programme. Armed with the belief that a child's most fundamental years of crucial brain development are its first 5 years, the programme partners with ten Pre-Schools in the Valley of 1000 hills to facilitate quality early childhood development and care to over 650 children between the ages of 0 and 5 years. The programme's model is three-fold in nature with a key strength lying in its partnership with education and nutrition experts who all add to the wholesome development of a child. Pop over to their website to find out more about them and the incredible work they do:
Hillcrest AIDS Centre
Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) has established a reputation for making a significant and meaningful impact in the lives of people impacted by the HIV/AIDS.
They primarily focus on serving the semi-rural and disadvantaged communities of the Valley of 1000 Hills region of KwaZulu-Natal, one of the epicentres of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. HACT’s mission is to provide unconditional love and hope to all those impacted by HIV/AIDS.
Their vision is an AIDS-free South Africa, and all of their projects work towards this dream. Collectively their projects and services directly impact the lives of over 10 000 people every year, the majority of whom are women and orphaned and vulnerable children and young people.
(HACT’s) Haberdashery which falls under the centre’s award-winning Woza Moya programme was set-up by the centre to address the high rates of poverty and unemployment that currently exist in many of the Valley of 1000 Hills communities. They generate much needed income for the centre’s various skills training and economic empowerment initiatives. Through donations of fabric to the haberdashery The Collies Group is able to assist those in desperate need to acquire a craft skill and earn an income through the sale of their craft. We recently donated 8,000 reusable face masks to HACT in order to assist their staff and beneficiaries.
Nation Changers
Nation Changers is a Christian based NPO whose mission is to Change our nation one act of kindness at a time. Nation Changers encompasses a broad variety of projects, but Education, feeding the hungry and empowering people is the primary focus.
Nation Changers distributes thousands of food parcels to those in need. The Collies Group has manufactured 1000 blankets which were donated to Nation Changers. These blankets are distributed with the food parcels in order to provide warmth to those in need.
Gift of the Givers
We donate some of our garments to Waqful Waqifin also known as Gift of the Givers. Gift of the Givers is the largest disaster response, non-governmental organisation of African origin on the African continent. It restores the hope and dignity of the most vulnerable in their time of need and rebuild prosperous communities. Assistance is provided unconditionally; assisting the needy, irrespective of human or animal, race, religion, colour, class, political affiliation of geographic location.
KZN Cerebral Palsy Association
We donated uniforms to the skilled and caring staff of this NPO. The Association was established in 1969 and provides education, training, day-care, and residential care facilities. Their Children With A Challenge program provides specialised care for profoundly disabled children, with a range of stimulating activities and individual care. The Association is completely self-reliant and dependent on donations from the public.
COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT
We believe in making an impact on the community in which we live. One of the primary ways in which we can have an impact on the lives of our community is through education, training and employment. We have managed to achieve this through the following initiatives:
LEARNERSHIP PROGRAMMES
Over the years we have run a number of learnership programmes. Unemployed people have had the opportunity to work within our group as part of our learnership programme. Many have progressed from NQF level 1 through to 3 and many have been permanently employed by us at the conclusion of the program.
SEWING MACHINE MECHANIC LEARNERSHIP
We have sponsored the tuition and training of a local female sewing machine mechanic. She is completing a one-year NQF Level 3 course at Thandeka Vocational Education.
DESIGN INTERNSHIP
Through a recruitment process for a new designer we identified that many newly qualified designers are unable to find work as they have no work experience. We started a new initiative where we have recruited a newly qualified designer to work with us for a 6 month period as an intern in order to provide her with work experience.
MOREWOOD MANUFACTURING FACILITY
As part of our group CSI initiative we started our Morewood Manufacturing facility in order to increase employment within the clothing sector. From an initial staff complement of 150 people Morewood has grown over the last few years and currently employs 300 people in the Tongaat area.
TRAINING SCHOOL
We are in the process of re-establishing our training school with the objective of recruiting unemployed people with no sewing experience and training them over a period of two years to become multi skilled machinists.