Help rescue child and youth care centre

DURBAN Child and Youth Care Centre is urgently appealing to the community to help rescue the organisation.

According to director, Mandy Goble, this year started off on a really bad note for the organisation, which she said is cash-strapped and can barely afford to pay running costs due to lack of donations. It is barely able to cover necessities.

The organisation's biggest funder, the Department of Social Development, has announced it will not be able to increase its subsidy this year due to financial crisis, and there has been a delay in paying the centre its subsidy, which was due on 30 January.

Goble said the department was the centre's biggest funder, and as she respects that it funds thousands of organisations, this particular crisis in the department was having had a very real impact on the centre.

“This late payment has put us in a critical situation, and in the past 25 years that I have been with the centre this is the first time we have been in the position where we haven't been able to pay our creditors. People have been understanding, as things are hard for everyone, and it is so humbling to know there is support. The community has a sense of generosity about what we do at the centre,” said Goble.

She said they appreciated donations in kind, which help, however there was a need for financial support to be able to pay the water and electricity bills, petrol to transport the children, money to buy food and nappies and to enable the centre to meet its vital expenses, including salaries.

“We need our staff quota to meet the requirements of the norms and standards of the Children's Act, but if we carry on like this we will have to retrench, and we face closure. We really need assistance to meet the cash requirements,” she said.

The centre has a Sponsor-a-Child initiative where people sponsor money monthly to support children at the centre, and Goble encouraged people to join up for this.

“R10 is a loaf of bread for us, which will give nine children a sandwich. When you have nothing, R10 goes a long way,” she said.

She said the National Lotto hadn't yet called for applications from organisations for funding for the financial year, which would have helped.

“We have received funding from the Lotto in the past – we never got what we asked for, but we have never not received what we needed. I don't for one minute believe that things won't be okay; after 110 years this organisation will not close,” she said.

If you can help, contact Thina on thina@dch.org.za.