Iris House Children’s Hospice has had the privilege of being supported by the FW de Klerk Foundation for the past three years. In fact, the first donation of R20 000 towards our Hospice repairs was gifted shortly after our lease was signed in January of 2015. Since then, the Foundation – thanks to the support of their funding partner, the Nedbank South African Charity Golf Day – has continued to contribute, paying for a brand-new wall and our amazing gate, repairs and extensions to another parameter wall, plus the installation of electric fencing as an added security feature (Iris House had suffered four break-ins prior to this). They have also paid for the renovation of our now spacious reception area, which has made welcoming children for sessions so much easier and safer.
Megan Dick, Communications and Marketing Manager for the FW de Klerk Foundation, has been extremely supportive of Iris House and made all the arrangements for the visit. She also escorted Mrs De Klerk on her visit.
It was both an honour and a privilege to meet Mrs De Klerk; she surprised us all by her knowledge on the topic of Autism. It became very apparent just how concerned she is about the condition and its unprecedented growth in our country and worldwide. Mrs De Klerk spent time with our children and was given a tour of our property by CEO and Founder, Sue van der Linde, where she made a very special friend in the form of our therapy sheep Shaun, who followed her around for the entire visit.
The support of the FW de Klerk Foundation has been key to the growth of our Hospice and the quality of our care, to have Mrs De Klerk visit personally was one of the highlights of our year.
We are very grateful to Megan and the Foundation for their support, and look forward to many more years of working with such an outstanding organisation.