After much deliberation and with great sadness, Singakwenza has withdrawn from the Midmar Mile in 2021 due to the allegations levelled against the main sponsor, aQuelle. As one of its core objectives, Singakwenza must adopt clear and unequivocal public stances on important social responsibility issues, one of which is the issue of gender based violence. The allegations made against aQuelle relate to issues of gender based violence, which are serious and of great concern to Singakwenza. In order to discharge Singakwenza’s duty to uphold its socially responsibility objectives it has, without attempting to pre-judge or finally determine the matter, made its best efforts to inform itself of all publicly available facts relating to this issue. This process has been undertaken by Singakwenza in full recognition of the fact that these issues will ultimately only be finally determined through formal legal processes. However due the fact that the legal processes that will be followed will in all likelihood take years to be finalised, Singakwenza believes it to be necessary and prudent to consider its current position on this issue in an even-handed and informed manner so as to enable it to adopt an appropriate and timely public position in this regard. Having considered the number of separate complaints levelled against aQuelle and the totality of information presently publicly available, it does appear, at a prima facie level, that these allegations warrant a comprehensive formal investigation. Singakwenza fully respects and supports the following of a proper and due legal process which will ultimately include aQuelle’s right to respond fully to the allegations and to have its voice heard on this issue. Having considered all of the above, Singakwenza has made the prudent and cautious decision to distance itself from any direct or indirect public association with aQuelle until such time as this issue has been fully and finally determined through due legal process.
Singakwenza’s participation in the Midmar Mile 8 Mile Challenge has been an incredibly rewarding one, and this decision was not taken lightly. Our grateful thanks to the Midmar Mile organizers and all the phenomenal people who have been part of our team over the past 6 years and raised a significant amount of money to change the lives of thousands of young children from local Pietermaritzburg communities.
As two of our little ones have recently been diagnosed with non-verbal autism, our Occupational Therapist has been helping the practitioners at all our creches to understand what this diagnosis means and how they can help these little ones to get the most out of their time at creche. One of the things she has introduced is a pictorial timeline of the day, helping the children to see what will happen next. This is so beneficial for ALL the children, not just autistic kids, and has gone down very well.
It was amazing to look back over what has been achieved over the past 10 years. Thanks to the amazing talents of Kerry Koller (graphic designer) who created an eye-catching and joyful celebration book, and Kim Ward (editor) who helped to edit and whittle down the enormous amount of information we provided her with, we were able to produce a publication that beautifully sums up what we, together with our funders and donors, have achieved in the last decade. LT Printers provided an excellent printing service, and thanks to some extra sponsorship from them and Kalideck Pty Ltd, it was printed on good quality paper and has become a volume to treasure. Contact us if you would like to take some to put in your office for your clients to enjoy.
Kerry Koller (graphic designer)Kim Ward (editor)Ron and Craig from LT Printers (printing company)
What an incredible 10th birthday celebration! When Covid-19 put paid to a real party, we decided to host a virtual event on Zoom to honour the people who have helped our team to achieve what we have over the past 10 years. Never dreaming that he would say yes, we invited Simon Sinek (simonsinek.com) to be our guest speaker. Not only did he agree to participate, but he gave us 45 minutes of his time and provided our guests with positive, insightful and inspiring nuggets of wisdom to contemplate. Thank you to the over 500 donors, volunteers, sponsors and supporters from all around the world who managed to join us for this celebration. We were delighted to give each of our South African participants a goodie bag of wonderful party treats to use to celebrate with us while still keeping safe. It really was a very happy event and a great celebration of the people who have helped us to reach this milestone.
Our grateful thanks to the event sponsors: – Dan Stillerman, from Excel Academy, who was the coordinator of our Zoom webinar. His attention to detail and incredibly professional handling of the whole process made everything run smoothly and on time. We are so grateful to him for all his advice and support, and totally recommend his services. – Cathy, from Catz Balloon Decor, who provided the perfect background for our Zoom webinar! It converted our office wall into a cheerful, colourful backdrop. – The goodie bag suppliers: Foodpak, Ben Wren, Rondavel Soaps, Greendale SuperSpar, Tanya Visser & The Gardener Magazine, Steritech, Vital Life Training, and B.O.N. Natural Oils. – The Gardener Magazine and Speciality Papers, for donating lucky draw prizes.
Helping our practitioners to understand and implement the requirements for safe reopening of their crèches has been our focus over the past few weeks. We are so grateful to one of our long standing supporters for printing and binding the guidelines from theDepartment of Social Development for each crèche. Our trainers are working carefully through these with their practitioners, and helping them to develop sustainable daily routines to keep everyone safe.
Our incredible 8 Mile team raised a whopping R498 293 at the Midmar Mile this year! 20% of this gets divided between the minor charities associated with this event (they each received a total of R30 000 from all of the major charities), and the rest will enable us to continue to make a significant impact in early childhood education. To all the swimmers, donors and sponsors, THANK YOU for your unbelievable generosity. Wayne, Di and the Seals’ Swimming Club, we are so grateful that you organise such a world class event that enables us to raise these greatly appreciated funds. Here’s to 2021!
