To commemorate Youth Month, Liberty employees joined together as part of its staff volunteerism programme, to fund school shoes across the country. This year close to 5,000 pairs of shoes were donated to learners in nearly 30 schools. This initiative is symbolic of Liberty’s commitment to improving education in South Africa. In 2018 Liberty invested R22.1 million in Maths, Science and English programmes.
“At Liberty we are passionate about education because it’s the bedrock of achieving a sustainable future for our country”, says Tracey Unser, Divisional Executive: Corporate Citizenship. “With so many families not being able to afford shoes for their children, we’re so proud that our staff heeded the call to improve lives… one shoe at a time,” she adds.
Behind the programme is the recognition that today’s learners are the leaders of tomorrow. “Many communities are struggling in our challenging socio-economic environment and it’s important that corporates like us become active corporate citizens,” says Unser. Liberty’s employees started with the Winter Shoe Drive in 2017. To date over 10,000 pairs of shoes have been donated to numerous primary schools across the country.
Unser adds, “As an extension of our Maths, Science and English programmes, we’ve enriched efforts towards teacher training and development programmes to enhance learner outcomes. One notable programme is our partnership with Mindset Network, which broadcasts Maths and Science tutorials for grade 8 – 12 on DStv. Through the channel we’re able to assist thousands of learners to improve their results. In addition, we sponsor the South African Maths Olympiad and fund the provision of Maths and Science tutorials for under resourced schools in the East of Gauteng and Unmumbulu district in KZN. We also fund financial literacy programmes for high school learners in partnership with Prime Stars. These programmes further demonstrate our commitment towards the development of education in South Africa.
“Long-term, sustainable value growth can only be achieved through the development and success of the communities in which we operate. This notion is premised on our belief that an organisation cannot thrive in a failing society,” concludes Unser.
