It’s been a big week for the Foundation as we recently just found out that our application for charitable status was accepted by HMRC. We are now registered Charity No. XT22927! It’s great news and validation of all the work we’ve put in over the last months, when we’ve been living off our good faith and daydreams. We’ve made it to base camp, now it’s time to start climbing. The cheesy ones are always the best.

It hit me yesterday just how far we’ve come since July 2009 when Thomas and I joined forces and decided to put our hearts and souls into getting this thing moving. We worked tirelessly throughout the year, through many ups and downs, to get the projects off the ground and running so we could attract more of Masi’s youth. We trailed the NGO circuit in Cape Town, looking into what was out there and where we could partner up to better the services we offered the kids and to begin to make a dent into the social issues of Township living that don’t get the necessary attention in schools here.

We looked for and found new friends in Masi who shared our vision, and they in turn bought boys, girls and young adults, all eager to join us. Then we looked at our meager budget and wandered how on earth we were going to survive. Linley then pledged the money he had raised from his Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle to keep us afloat and former Ticket to Ride graduate Beth Holland ran the London Marathon for us. We could buy petrol to transport the kids to and from the beach, enough equipment to keep training going and buy enough time to get us to this stage. In short it saved us, and we hope our new found status as a charity will help us move forward again and to realize our grander vision.

So yesterday… I was hairing around in the Chana Bakkie, the pick up truck sponsored to us by Kennings Car Hire. The thing looks ridiculous, like a stretched Bedford rascal, and we’ve become sort of infamous as the Foundation with the crazy wheels. But beggars can’t be choosers and she, yes SHE, serves us wonderfully. As I said, I was hairing around in the Chana as we had three projects on the go. In Masi we had Football training with 40 or so kids, run by Thomas and Andy, our new volunteer. Then in Fishoek we had English lessons for our 20 toddlers, with Corinna our other volunteer helping out Daniella, our contact at Fishoek High School. On the other side of Masi, Pila was running netball for our girls, some 30 or so again. And there I was, tottering around in our undersized pick-up trying to coordinate it all. It was a far cry from our first training session with 10 boys back in July last year, with 1 flat football. (Today we have 5 flat footballs, but also bibs and cones.) It suddenly sank in how far we’d come.

This week we also had another first. Several parents stopped by to tell us their children were happier than they had seen them before, and that they were better for it. We also had several new parents approach us and ask for their children to join us. We are making inroads. To say we’re succeeding is far too grand a statement, but our work is being recognized in the community which is wonderful and drives us on even more.

Attached to this blog is a photo diary of who we are and what we do. If you want to find out more then visit our Foundation Pages
or join us on Facebook
You can also view our movies now showing on Youtube
If you like what you see, and you would like to follow Linley’s lead and support us, you can do so at our Just Giving Page
When you decide to support the Foundation, that’s exactly what you do. Your money goes straight to the kids, with none being taken for admin costs. It is one of the most effective donations you’ll ever make. And every little helps. We’re a small foundation working on a tiny budget, so every pound goes a long long way. £1 can buy pencils or beads for our toddlers, £5 can buy a football that will keep 22 kids busy for two hours after school each day. £10 will buy enough floats for us to teach 10 kids to swim and, most importantly, every single pound donated helps us towards our ultimate fund raising goal of £10,000 to buy a new Foundation Mobile, capable of coping with the pressures of our larger numbers.

So have a browse of the photos, check out the links attached, and if you want to assist us in achieving our vision we’d hugely appreciate your support. I'd like to donate
Thanks for reading.

Tim, Thomas, Pila, Thobela, Clare and the Foundation crew.