On Friday, 1 September the Cape Wine Auction Trust held its third annual beneficiary workshop at The Retreat on Boschendal estate.
The mandate of the Trust is to Support Education in the South African Winelands. Education in the context of the CWA Trust is about the whole person. Its vision is to assist in providing quality education to learners and teachers throughout the region, focusing on both classroom learning and addressing barriers to education. We support beneficiaries which take care of nutrition, psycho-social health, leadership, mentorship and peer partnerships, after-school care and access to 21st century education skills. Over the past three years we have seen beneficiaries partner with each other on various projects, and the resulting impact has been magical.
After an investment of more than R55 million over four years the impact is growing and gaining momentum rapidly. There is no denying that the problems in education are huge and no individual organisation can tackle them alone. That is where the power of partnerships and collaboration comes into play. The Cape Wine Auction Trust has a beneficiary community of 27 exceptional beneficiaries who collaborate to reimagine education in the winelands.
The beneficiaries who gathered on 1 September are changing the future for thousands of learners. Each is a piece of a larger puzzle, and the image of the completed puzzle is the vision of a winelands area where every child has access to world-class education, from cradle to career. The workshop saw participants stretching themselves to understand the challenges and learn from the successes.
Our partnerships and collaborations extend to other donors too. The CWA Trust actively engages with like-minded organisations which are funding education in our area, and it was wonderful to have some of them join us at the workshop. It was also great to have members of the Western Cape Education Department with us on the day as partners on this journey.
Educated children should not only be able to read and do maths, but they should emerge from the education system as healthy, well-balanced, independent and economically-active citizens. By working together, we know that our beneficiary community will have an even greater impact this year, and we look forward to sharing this with you leading up to the Auction in February and beyond.
Andi Norton
Trust Facilitator
Andi Norton (CWA Trust Facilitator) and Raymond Ndlovu (Trustee) with impact specialist Leila Davids who gave a fascinating keynote address on Measuring Impact.
Feedback from some of the beneficiaries…
“We would like to thank you all for a fabulous, informative and refreshing day at Boschendal last Friday. As always, it was great to network with everyone there. Many thanks for inviting us and for the support you show us. It is an honour to be associated with the Cape Wine Auction Trust and the beneficiaries!”
Kerstin and Marie-Louise, The Kusasa Project
“Thank you for a unbelievable great morning – I was so inspired by great work done by fellow beneficiaries. The interview with Wendy was life changing!”
Emma, Wine Training SA
“Just a short but sincere “Thank You” for Friday. It must require many hours of work, but it really is a special occasion that inspires.”
Delana, Maranatha Trust
“Thank you for the lovely day on Friday – I enjoyed every presentation, was moved to tears in some, and astounded at the sad facts in others, but uplifted seeing what people are doing. Thank you for making this happen.”
Helen, Anna Foundation
“Thank you so much for the wonderful day last week, it was inspiration to hear about all the other projects and the amazing work that everyone is doing, I wrote loads of notes of ideas of where we can partner or improve what we offer. It was a great day of networking also, in a stunning venue. Thank you.”
Sophia, Pebbles Project