Corporate Social Investment: Hollard

 This weeks meeting took the form of another hybrid meeting, with some members present at the Parkview Golf Club, and others virtually on Zoom.  A total of 29 Members took part in the meeting.

With President Ian at home on Zoom, PP Judy Sligcher ran the meeting at the Club.

Our speaker was Lynette van Vreden, CSI Manager at Hollard.  Lynette gave a passionate presentation of Hollards CSI Framework.  "Our approach to Corporate Social Investment stems from the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the National Development Plan".  This approach also aligns with the Hollard Purpose and the Group Goals.

Lynette van Vreden from Hollard presenting to the Club, with PP Judy and Samantha Deverneuil in the background

The mission of Hollards CSI is "We enable more people to create and secure a better future and create impact through the core CSI focus areas":

• Education
• Environment
• Community

Through employee volunteerism they are able to implement ...

• CSI Projects
• Payroll Giving
• National CSI Days
• Thusano Grants

Of special interest is the Thusano Grant Programme which is an annual grant made available for Hollardites who volunteer more than 50 hours a year in their personal capacity to a registered NPO.  Twenty grants are accommodated for annually - the maximum paid in one financial year was a total of R180 000 to 15 organisations.

Through the Hollard Foundation Trust, Hollard also supports Harambee (a youth employment accelerator); Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme and the Youth Employment Service.

Hollard actively encourages employees to volunteer their time and skills and through this their CSI and the work they do with the Hollard Foundation Trust and their communities contributes to real inclusive growth and it really does enable others to have a better future.

Hollards CSI initiatives are a good example of a corporate investing in social programmes and in many respects align with New Dawns goals:  Community support, children in need and education.  There are many synergies that we as a Club can explore with Hollard.

Announcements:  as you all know, we have a long standing relationship with the 5 Cee's in Hillbrow.

They have requested help with their cold room which needs urgent repair.  Mike Vink has agreed to support them with R6000 to repair their cold room.

In line with our re-alignment of the grant received for the sanitization taxi project,  the Johannesburg initiative plans to develop a second seedling farm which will create many opportunities for sustainable food production.  PP Paul Kasango asked that we keep the Alexandria Community in mind as this community needs help.

Our speaker next week will be Bridget  van Oerle, founder of Buz Publicity.

Quote of the week:  "Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life.  It is important to the person who serves, as well as the recipient.  It's the way in which we ourselves grow and develop."    Dorothy Height:  1912 - 2010