Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust

Recognizing the social investment responsibility that the South African corporate sector has to the wider community, Nedbank and the CWG established a development trust in September 1999.

The Nedbank Cape Winemakers Guild Development Trust supports the education and social needs of farm workers, their families and their communities. The Trust is funded by donations and proceeds raised at various Guild events throughout the year as well as from the Silent Auction and Charity Auction.

Trustees
David Knott, BOE – Chairman
James Browne, Hartenberg
Johann Krige, Kanonkop
Jan Coetzee, Vriesenhof
Johannes Demas, Simonsig

Current Projects

Hoër Landbouskool Boland
The Trust supplements the salary of an additional teacher at Hoër Landbouskool Boland near Paarl. This is an agricultural school offering boys between the ages of 14 and 18 a well-rounded education, based on the practical application of the agricultural sciences.

In return, Landbouskool Boland covers the school and hostel fees of a number of talented children from the local farming communities. At present the Trust has eight boys attending the school and since 2000, five boys have matriculated.  One of our matriculants is working within the wine industry and two have gone on to study agriculture and winemaking.

Johan Adams – Jan Kriel School
Johan Adams was originally selected to attend Hoer Landbouskool Boland. It was soon discovered that he had severe dyslexia and the Trust found a place for him at the Jan Kriel School in Kuilsriver. Johan matriculated as Deputy Head Boy in 2006.

The Trust is currently assisting him with his tertiary education and Johan is now attending Huguenot College in Paarl where he is studying Human Resource Management, so that one day, he can fulfill his dream of helping others living and working within our farming communities.

Bloemhof High School for Girls
Joining forces with Bloemhof High School for girls in Stellenbosch, the Trust supports the high school education of talented young girls from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. The Trust’s first two learners, Vanessa van Niekerk and Cindy-Lee Fredericks, both of Cloetesville, joined the school in 2006 and it is hoped that this number will grow in the years to come.

“Bricks and Mortar” Projects
Since its establishment, the Guild has also assisted with the development and education at local schools:

The Pebbles Project
In February 2007, the Development Trust donated R22 000 to the Pebbles Project.  These funds will be used to train teachers working in crèches that educate and care for the children of wine farm employees.

Lynedoch Primary
Local school Lynedoch Primary supports the education and welfare of over 350 children living in our local farming community. In 2001, the Guild donated R42 000 to the school in order to purchase much-needed white boards for the classrooms, a photocopying machine as well as to seal the classroom floors.

Weber Gedenk Primary
The community of Jamestown spent six years raising funds, laying the foundations and building the walls of a new hall at the Weber Gedenk Primary School in Jamestown. Unfortunately, building work came to a standstill when the school struggled to raise the remaining R50 000 required to build a roof for the Hall.

Principal Bernhard Williams contacted the Guild for assistance. Impressed by the determination and hard work that the community had put into building their much-needed hall, the Guild agreed to fund the cost of the roof through the Nedbank CWG Development Trust.

The hall, which was finally completed at the end of 2004, is used for school assemblies, as an aftercare centre, as a centre for community literacy and youth life skills classes as well as for indoor sports and community gatherings.

Stellenzicht High School
In January 2006, the Nedbank CWG Development Trust donated R16 000 to Stellenzicht Secondary School in Jamestown to assist with the completion of their much-needed computer centre.

The new school curriculum requires that every school has the necessary equipment in order to function effectively and the access to modern computers is vital. Towards the end of 2005, Stellenzicht Secondary School was offered 30 computers by the Khanya Project, but before these could be delivered, a secure classroom with power points and tables was required. The Safe Schools Project donated R24 000 and the Nedbank CWG Development Trust donated the remaining R16 000 required for the completion of the classroom, which today serves the 850 children attending the school.