Who says fashion can’t change the world?

On 5 March the Vintage of Love charity officially opened the classroom which they had donated to the Link Literacy Project volunteers that teach literacy skills at Riversands Primary School during a celebration on the grounds. The event was attended by volunteers and stakeholders and showed what can be achieved when members of the community work together.

“Vintage With Love was started about five or six years ago by people who wanted to help charities but didn’t have the time [to volunteer],” explained Jacquie Myburgh, who helped found the organisation.

“We collect pre-loved clothes in good condition from the public, and then once a year we hold a big pop-up sale where we sell all the items and then donate the money raised to charity.” The 2018 sale took place in June and managed to raise about R1 million, which was then donated to a number of charities focused on improving literacy.

“We want to support literacy in the country as it is something we [the founders and volunteers at Vintage] are passionate about. We wanted to support those charities we know are doing good work.” One of the recipient charities was the Literacy Link Project, which was in desperate need of a classroom where their volunteers could work.

“The Link Literacy Project focuses on early literacy skills in children and has about 17 centres around Johannesburg,” explained Kate Alexander, the centre manager for the Riversands Primary School branch of the project.

“We work with about 44 Grade 2 children from Riversands Primary and try to get them to learn to read using phonics and blending.”

The project conducts assessments with all the Grade 2s at the school and based on these results the children who are struggling most with literacy are paired with volunteers who work with them. The school, which already has large classes of children to teach, did not have many spare classrooms which could be used for these extra lessons and so volunteers would sometimes need to sit outside to give the children lessons.

It is here where Vintage With Love was able to help.

“We asked the Link Literacy Project what they needed, and what they needed was a classroom here,” explained Myburgh. The classroom is made out of a storage container and has air conditioning to keep the children and staff comfortable during lessons, and tables, desks, books and a whiteboard have also been added to it thanks to donations to the project. “It really makes such a profound difference to both the children and the volunteers,” said Alexander.

“The space is definitely conducive to learning.”

Vintage with Love has collection points for second-hand clothes in Parkhurst, Dainfern and Hyde Park, and the Link Literacy Project at Riversands is always looking for volunteers to work with the children. “This sort of work [with children to improve their reading skills] is the difference between no how and hope,” explained Megan Maynard, coordinator of the project city-wide who was present for the handover. “Class sizes at Riversands are too big for those struggling.

“A lot of people in the world want to change the world, but it feels impossible to them and they don’t know how to help. This is a small way that they can help others as after all, you need to learn to read before you can read to learn.”

Volunteers can visit the school one or two days a week, must speak English fluently, love children and have a passion for reading but do not need formal teaching training. You can also work at another one of their sites across the city.

Details: Vintage with Love: www.vintagewithlove.co.za; 079 521 9090. Link Literacy Project: www.thelinkliteracyproject.co.za; megan.maynard31@gmail.com

*Please note that a previous version of this story published in the Fourways Review, Week ending 15 March, on Page 3 incorrectly printed the Link Literacy Project email address as megan.maynard3@gmail.com. The correct address is, in actual fact, megan.maynard31@gmail.com