Champions make a difference

The Champions for Change (C4C) held their very first community child protection and safeguarding workshop in June, aimed at empowering teachers, teacher trainees, school staff and parents to support and better understand their learners through South African Council for Educators-accredited training.

The workshop was held at St Laurence’s Anglican Church in Discovery, and it was led by C4C founder, former teacher, and principal Myrna Thomas, alongside her partner, Gwen Pretorius.

C4C is a non-profit organisation that focuses on child protection and safeguarding awareness, as well as various community work that includes arts and crafts therapy sessions for survivors of abuse, applications for protection orders, and the collection of previously loved items for the community.

According to Myrna, the workshop was a success, and they had a small group of people from varying ages and backgrounds.

“We addressed understanding of what abuse is and how it happens at home, on the way to school, in the community, and within the school. The team learned about the difference between child protection and safeguarding of children and how to use the APRR model, which is awareness, prevention, reporting, and responding,” Myrna said.

Myrna also mentioned that in their evaluations, the participants mentioned their appreciation of the many case studies where they could unpack and learn about how to manage situations and know the reporting protocols.

C4C will be hosting their last of the sponsored workshops on July 24 at Cornerstone Church Hall, 54 Judd Street, on the corner of Mouton Road in Horison. Interested community members can contact Myrna at m.thomas@champ4change.org to book one of these workshops.