simon wood
Making Swansea Proud
Fundraising for Mellon Educate (UK)
Story
In 2002, a charity, The Niall Mellon Township Trust, was set up to build houses for impoverished families in the Townships of South Africa. These houses were nothing special and nothing like what we live in, but to the new residents of these houses, they were homes. For the first time in their lives, they could turn on a light switch or turn on a tap; everyday things we take for granted. In the 12 years since this started, over 25,000 homes have been built and over 120,000 people re-homed. The highlight of the charities year was the annual building blitz, when volunteers from all over the world converged on a township to build as many houses as possible.
In 2013 the charities housing arm became a recognised social housing provider in South Africa. They took the decision that they would then concentrate on Education, with the first building blitz having taken place in March 2014, and once again, volunteers converged on a small part of Cape Town to build and refurbish parts of an existing school. The 1 week spent there gave education opportunities for a further 300 pupils as well as providing toilet and playing facilities for existing pupils.
In November 2014, The Mandela tribute blitz will take place in Nelson Mandela's home village. Mandela famously said that "Education was the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world" and this building blitz provides a unique opportunity for volunteers to walk in a great man's footsteps.