After meeting Mr. Robert Pritt last year there was a definite “connection” with Iris House Children’s Hospice. Robert who with his wife Sue, joined us as our guests at our 2013 Year End Family Event. Robert landed up filling in for our Father Christmas on the day (not part of the plan) as our original Father Christmas was taken ill a duty he throughly enjoyed. On that same day the “connection” became a commitment. Robert and Sue left South Africa a few months after the event returning to their permanent home in the UK with a promise to spread the word about the work Iris House is providing in the Western Cape and find us financial support.
After exchanging many emails, Robert presented the Iris House respite care concept to his Rotary Club members at the Rotary Club of Twickenham upon Thames, focusing on our planned Mfuleni hub.
We are thrilled to announce that due to Robert’s outstanding effort’s we have received a cheque for R14,000 and are hoping to receive a further grant of over R9,000 from the UK Rotary District covering Robert’s Club. The money will be used for setting up our Mfuleni hub at the Mfuleni Library. We have access to the venue every Wednesday and Friday for 2015 and intend to provide support groups and also a new family registration station. We also aim to grow our care team numbers to 6 carers for the area.
Many of the parents of Special Needs children in Mfuleni are single parents, most of which are the Mom’s. Most of the Mom’s cannot work as they cant find work, or cant find anywhere for their child to be safely cared for during the day. This means that they survive solely on the state grant of R1200. It is our aim to not only provide these Mom’s with respite care, but also to empower them to make a better life for themselves and their children. We have launched our “Rags2Riches” campaign, supplying our Mom’s with second hand clothes to sale, a small amount is charged for the items and this money comes back to Iris House, the balance or profit is kept by the person who sales the items.
With the launch of the Hub, we plan to further capacity build by providing our Mom’s with the necessary training and support they need to be able to create a better quality of life for their child, learn new skills and or join our care team, network and improve their circumstances.
Thank you so much Robert and Sue for taking Iris House Children’s Hospice under your wings and spreading the word in the UK for us.
We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Twickenham upon Thames, Mr. Robert Pritt and Mansoor Ghatineh who both donated an addition £100 each towards the R14,000.00 total.
Thank You