Home from Home is a registered Child Protection Agency and cluster foster care scheme that places vulnerable children in supervised, community-based family homes in the Western Cape.
The charity has grown over the last ten years from a handful of homes in Khayelitsha to over 30 homes across the Western Cape. Largely funded by local and international donors, all money raised goes directly towards ensuring their children and foster families are supported and homes maintained.
Of the 30 cyclists that took part on behalf of Home from Home, ten were from the United Kingdom and 20 were local. “This year we were fortunate to have a corporate sponsor, Unitrans, who funded our cycling shirts and event activities,” says Home from Home’s development director, Pippa Shafer.
“We stuck to the same fundraising strategy as last year, which was to not impose a minimum donation amount as we believe that every person has different fundraising potential. Interestingly, by not imposing this minimum amount we found that some of our cyclists were able to far succeed our expectations.”
“Unitrans was very happy to work with Home from Home on the Cape Town Cycle Tour event," says Adriaan de Beer, Unitrans CFO. "Initially we were only sponsoring clothing and the pre-race reception, but after seeing first-hand the meaningful impact this organisation is making on the lives of vulnerable children in South Africa, we felt compelled to up our sponsorship to ensure that they are able to continue the amazing work they are doing. As a company we are committed to improving the lives of children in South African and we believe that Home from Home is the ideal partner to help us achieve this.”
March 2016 also marked the first year that Home from Home participated in the Two Oceans Marathon. They secured 20 spots, all of which were sold out the day they went live. Trips to some of the homes and a drinks reception were organised for the runners, who were able to ask questions and engage with the charity’s foster mothers and children.
“As a collective the runners raised approximately R650,000, which was a fantastic achievement. Some of these runners have also gone on to become long-term child sponsors. Home from Home are enthusiastic about participating in the event again next year. Hopefully we can get even more places and have a bigger team,” says Shafer.
Following on from this success, Home from Home is gearing up for its Challenges for Children campaign, which takes place annually throughout August.
During this time, people are encouraged to push themselves to complete a monthly challenge, whether running, doing yoga every day, cutting out certain foods or meditating - all while fundraising for Home from Home’s children.
