The programme takes the form of a series of camps taking place around South Africa during the six-week school holiday over the World Cup period. The holidays are traditionally risky times for school children, who are often unsupervised and exposed to potentially dangerous situations when not at school.
The Pioneer Foods Fund will be providing 25 100 lunches and snacks to participants, coaches and volunteers, nutrition education posters and goody bags to participants on graduation day, SAB will be providing 27 000 units of soft drinks to the 4500 learners around the country, and Rio Tinto has provided funding to enable four additional camps to take place.
"One of our aims in developing the Castrol Skillz Holiday Programme was to extend the positive impact of the World Cup beyond 2010 for the youth of our country," says Bridget Nkuna, corporate social investment manager at Castrol. "Our research shows that the knowledge gained in the programme is shared, so that for every one person who participates, the impact is felt by five individuals. We are delighted that additional partners have come on board to broaden the reach of the programme, and to augment the positive message that the children come away with."
"Our objective in this partnership is to support the outreach educating the youth on HIV/Aids-related issues, encourage positive attitudes towards themselves and their communities using sports as a vehicle for engagement," says Jean Chawapiwa, Rio Tinto's vice president in charge of external affairs and communications in southern Africa.
"One of our strategies is to curb underage drinking," says Nozicelo Ngcobo, who is responsible for government relations at SAB. "We support all endeavours to keep children gainfully occupied, off the streets and entertained, without being susceptible to negative influences." In line with this, SAB's contribution to the Castrol Skillz Holiday Programme was made through SAB's soft drinks division, ABI. This in-kind contribution through ABI will bring 27 000 soft drinks to the participants of the 45 camps.
The Pioneer Foods Fund has also come on board with the sponsorship of all the lunches for the camps around the country, to the value of around R460 000. In addition to the provision of healthy meals for children undergoing physically and mentally stimulating activities, Pioneer Foods is also providing a series of information posters over the five days of camp developed by the Sports Science Institute providing tips on healthy eating and nutrition.
On the last day of camp, as part of the celebration ceremony attended by family and friends, each participating child will also receive a goodie bag of products and promotional items, as well as a follow-up card with the tips that were discussed at the camps.
"The Castrol Skillz Holiday Programme provides a huge opportunity for us to interact with children," says Tania Botha, the sustainability manager at Pioneer Foods.
A total of 45 Castrol Skillz Holiday Programme camps will be carried out in and around Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Soweto, Richard's Bay, Polokwane. At each camp, 100 learners participate in a five-day, intense curriculum of soccer themed curriculum that weaves in HIV prevention and life skills education. The programme was developed by the NGO Grassrootsoccer in partnership with Castrol to address and educate South African youth about the HIV/Aids pandemic.
