Urban Ruins needs your help to bolster community outreach programmes

Urban Ruins, a Boksburg-based NPO, encourages residents to support its fund-raising initiatives designed to help bolster its community outreach programmes in the city.
The organisation recently launched its new website (www.theurbanruins.com/home), which was designed and developed by Nora Coleman from NCITSquared.
Part of the NPO’s fund-raising efforts to survive these tough financial times was to develop an online shop.
According to Leigh Hudson-Ingle (Urban Ruins founding member), 50 per cent of the proceeds made for the NPO so far go towards the Walking Shuffling team in support of cancer awareness.
“With a donation of R240 or more, you will receive a gift of handcrafted pink gin called Urban Blush. This is a limited edition product, and we are happy to report that all people in Boksburg love gin,” said Hudson-Ingle.
Also on sale are what the organisation named Urban Caps, which have a pink badge specifically if you would like to purchase one as support for cancer awareness.
“As we raise funds we hope to develop more Urban Ruins products. We also invite all designers to donate an original piece on our designer platform.
“This platform will be linked to your details as a designer, and we will then auction off your donated original piece. All proceeds will go to our five current projects,” explained Hudson-Ingle.

Programmes to assist the unemployed

Following an impact study, which was sponsored by Macsteel South Africa, the organisation realised the greatest challenge faced by communities was unemployment.
Parents struggle to afford food, let alone school fees.
“If I had a job, then I could choose what clothes my child wears and what food we buy and eat. If I had a job, I can then choose what is best for my child,” this statement, by a parent, challenged and changed the way Urban Ruins approaches their community. It also prompted the team at the centre to develop a concept called We@Work.
“W@W is a service initiative developed by and delivered through the Urban Ruins NPO to combat unemployment among unemployed workforce in the Boksburg and surrounding communities.
“We offer skills training and business ethics courses to corporate staff and all unemployed community members, and a fully equipped professional office to support our members in searching for job opportunities.
“Our courses are geared at producing X-factor qualified workers and our W@W database allows businesses to hire, recruit and absorb our members with confidence.
“Our vision is to develop each person as a micro enterprise (ME). Every person who has successfully completed business ethics and has been vetoed is registered on our app. All employers, as an individual or company, can then hire with confidence a competent, vetoed ME,” explained Hudson-Ingle.
The W@W office acts as each ME professional office. By hiring through the NPO, you can receive an A18 tax certificate, and be sponsoring a child Urban Ruins’s Reach and Teach Programme.
Social investment projects: Reach and Teach
The NPO’s Reach and Teach programme aims to raise funds or secure sponsorship for 40 to 60 pre-schoolers every year to ensure access to education to the most impoverished families in local communities.
The programme offers CAPS curriculum education, three nutritious meals a day and an extensive extramural programme that consists of Pilates, cycling, road safety, arts, music, drama and reading, literacy and organic gardening.
You can sponsor a child per month at R650, which includes the meals, curriculum, school uniform, stationery and extramural activities.
Ownership and transformation
At the centre, staff members who hold driver’s licences will have the opportunity to provide transport for all pre-schoolers. This will allow them to experience true independence and responsibility in managing a vehicle.
“Through continued opportunities to grow and qualify in their careers as educators and business managers, we hope to source financial partners that will enable our management staff to achieve full transformation and to become business owners.
“We need to develop our own sustainability programmes, fund-raising, teaching other ECD practitioners and relying on our own abilities to apply and secure funding from grants and social development,” said Hudson-Ingle.
For more information on how support Urban Ruins:
• Reach and Teach School: Sharon Sibanda,0630257086 or sharon@urbanruins.co.za
• WE@WORK: Clayton Viljoen 0817470833 or wow@urbanruins.co.za
• To reach the NPO or make a donation: Veronica Khumalo 0733614863 or vee@urbanruins.co.za
• To hire trainers: Lesley George 0823564689 or accounts@urbanruins.co.za