**URGENT FUNDRAISING APPEAL**

We need your help! Partner with us to build two classrooms in a South African village school

We are urgently looking for organisations, companies, and individuals to sponsor the build costs of two Technical School classrooms by mid-April 2022.

This would mean the children can move into the classrooms before the winter sets in. We have 10 weeks to raise the funds for the roofing, doors and windows, ceiling, and electrics.

Our fundraising target is between £5,000 and £10,000 Sterling which is R100,000 – R200,000 South African Rands

DONATE here or here: https://www.facebook.com/HillcrestAIDSUK/

Find out more about the costs below and be part of this amazing story…

Imagine, just for a moment, a rural township school in the Valley of 1000 Hills, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Located in remote, rugged hills just below Inchanga, it’s an area where very little provision is made for secondary education. Here, widespread unemployment and high levels of poverty are big challenges faced daily by the children and their families.

The great news is that this school wants every child to fulfil their dreams and potential. And it’s not just any school. This is a Technical School offering secondary school children the rare opportunity to access science and technology facilities like workshops and science labs – facilities that most of us take for granted but are scarce or non-existent in rural South African schools.

Since 2016, we have been involved in providing the technical school with classrooms. By the end of 2016, five mobile classrooms were obtained, and toilets were built, along with a small office for the principal and admin, and an adjoining small kitchen and staffroom. In 2017, the school opened with its first cohort of Grade 8 students in their first year of secondary school.

In 2018, two solid double classrooms were built and in 2019, the students and their parents themselves raised R50,000.00 towards the construction of two technical workshops. However, the Covid-19 pandemic put building work on hold. 

 

To ensure the two workshops were built, the rest of the funds were raised by us (HACT UK) and Kloof Rotary Club South Africa who also provided the architect to draw up the plans and provide overall project management. One of our close NGO partners, Lionsraw, oversaw the work and provided local labour. 

In 2020, we were excited to see the workshops completed.

As the Technical School continues to grow, more classrooms are needed. The aim is ultimately to replace each of the mobile units with solid, fixed classrooms. Our goal was to build two classrooms in 2020 and another two in 2021 but then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

This means the project is behind schedule and short of the four classrooms planned for 2022, which means there isn’t enough space for the children to learn.

But we are still committed to raising between £5000 – £10,000 (R100,000 – R200,000.00) for the final building costs

Two local South African companies are providing the breeze blocks for the classrooms. With the help of a wonderful UK supporter who donated £5000, the groundworks for two of the four classrooms have now commenced. The foundations were laid at the beginning of January 2022!

 

Laying the foundations for the two new classrooms at Inchanga Technical School, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

To finish what we started, we need your help to cover:

• the cost of roofing (2 roofs) – £4,400 / R90,000 each or £8,800 / R180,000 in total
• the cost of doors and windows for 1 classroom – £1,955 / R40,000.00
• the cost of electrics for 1 classroom – £1,222 / R25,000.00
• the cost of the ceiling for 1 classroom – £270 / R5,500.00

Grand Total: £12,247 / R250,500

Every penny raised, every donation made – no matter how large or small – takes us nearer to achieving our target and a spacious, exciting place for the children to learn.

If you are a UK taxpayer, then why not Gift Aid your donation. The extra money provided by gift aid will enable us to meet our target more quickly.

If you can help, please contact us or you can donate directly and securely to this cause here: Donate by bank transfer or PayPal (Use the reference: Technical School) OR by Credit/Debit card or PayPal via our Facebook Donate button: https://www.facebook.com/HillcrestAIDSUK/

Don’t forget to let us know if you wish to Gift Aid your donation. 

Thank you so much!

Dr Margaret Turnbull

Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust UK

“Every penny raised, every donation made – no matter how large or small – takes us nearer to achieving our target and a spacious, exciting place for the children to learn.”