Laying a good foundation

Broll’s Social Responsibility Committee (SRC) is back this year with a bang. To start with, the Committee will no longer be called the SRC, but rather The Broll Foundation. Planning meetings have already taken place and project beneficiaries for the year are being decided upon.

This year The Broll Foundation plans to continue creating, as its name implies, a sustainable foundation from which underprivileged organisations can continue to grow. Last year saw the Foundation’s involvement with the Kwathema Stimulation Centre bring about many benefits for the Centre which, among other things, included stabilising the structure of the Centre’s building, repairing amenities and donating a palisade fence.

'Our aim is to get involved where there is a serious need, and no existing help offered. Once Broll takes the initial steps in helping the organisation we hope that other companies will see what we are doing and follow suit,' says Broll director and Foundation chairperson, Tilly Gasela. 'In that way we are then creating ongoing sustainability for the project, and not just short term alleviation.'

And that is exactly what has happened with the Kwathema Stimulation Centre – when Broll first got involved with the organisation they were in dire need of help and had no benefactors. Now, since the Foundation initiated the process, the Centre has already attracted a further two companies to help support it. 'We are confident in what we have set up at the Kwathema Centre, and we can now exit from the organisation knowing that they will be well looked after,' says Tilly.

The Foundation is in the process of looking for a new beneficiary for 2007 – a project which the committee members hope can benefit an entire community, instead of just assisting one sector of it – and are currently looking for more rural / semi-rural organisations to get involved with. 'We feel that it is in these areas that there is the greatest need, and through offering our help there we hope that we will have the opportunity to make a greater impact, especially in terms of facilitating economic development which will inevitably benefit the whole community,' says Tilly.

The Foundation already has a few ideas in mind for 2007 beneficiaries, but because these ventures are carried out in partnership with the communities involved, there is a need to consult with community leaders before finalising their involvement.