Future stars reaching for their stars

Every boy and girl who comes to live with us is a unique young person, each with their own talents and qualities – something easily overlooked when we’re dealing with bringing stability and belonging into their life.

But as they settle into school we see interesting facets of each child’s personality unfold. Help from friends in the past has provided the means to nurture these unique qualities, opening up opportunities for enjoyable hobbies or future careers, or just simply healing.

Will you help colour their lives?

Artistic creativity and therapeutic work in the wild and with animals is a wonderful outlet for a child who has no words to describe the mental or physical anguish – and an older child may express his feelings through poems or stories. Singing and dancing is a great way to bring joy when it seems none exists.

As a friend, you’ll agree that the emotional damage of our children should not be underestimated. Many have suffered and it’s simply not enough to put a roof over their heads, food on the table and settle them into a school.

That’s why I’m hoping you’ll want to help make a difference in their lives.

Specialists create opportunities for children to explore and unlock the potential and possibilities within themselves. By giving online now, you can help sow the seeds of happiness out of which rewarding and fulfilling lives can flow.

The truth is, it’s only once the nightmares of the past have been replaced that life truly begins again for our children. You can help them overcome their past by investing in their future now.

Depending on the ages and talents of the children, they find a niche for themselves, be it performing, directing, costumes, make-up, sound or lights. The applause and validation they get from their audiences is worth more than gold.

We can only afford these activities if you partner with us in giving young people these priceless opportunities. Please join with us in brightening their tomorrow – today.

What better way to celebrate Christmas than to give a gift that will last a lifetime?

Message from our Chief Executive Officer

Opportunities are the stepping stones to success

The one constant everyone at Girls and Boys Town shares with you, our valued sponsors and donors, is that we care deeply for our youth. 

We will fight tirelessly, both practically and strategically, to achieve our goal of “removing the barriers that challenge youth at risk”.  One such challenge is lowering the barriers to education faced by children in our residences and in the community-based families we serve.

Education is an unequivocal right, a necessity for a fulfilling life, yet it’s often not accessible to many at-risk young people.  That’s why we made the decision to embark on a strategy to change this.

It was with pride we opened our first Learning Support Centre on our Kagiso campus in September 2010 and the second on our Magaliesburg campus in April.  Four more will follow in our other regional centres later in the year. None of this would have been possible without your loyal support and a generous sponsorship from Lotto.

Maintaining such significant achievements demands that we as a national team remain focused, thus the implementation of strategy is the business of every staff member of Girls and Boys Town.

We’re extremely lucky to have been offered an award-winning programme developed and sponsored by community engagement specialist The Virtual Works.  This programme has run successfully at Deloitte’s for the past three years, and will connect every Girls and Boys Town employee with our strategy and goals.

Recognition of individual contributions to strategy implementation is simple and immediate and system tools make collaboration between leaders and colleagues easier. 

We’re thrilled to be breaking this new ground as we strive for excellence in our service to young people at risk.

Thank you for your enduring generosity and loyalty in making all this possible for the young people of our nation.

Kind regards

Lee Loynes
Chief Executive Officer