Lighten the financial burden of Guild Cottage
PARKTOWN – Lighten the financial woes of Guild Cottage this festive season.
Guild Cottage in Parktown is in desperate need of assistance from the community ahead of the festive season as they seek to provide a safe haven for 12 sexually abused girls.
Director at the home Celiwe Ngwenya said their greatest achievement this year has been their solid programme.
“The girls are doing well at school and truant behaviours have improved drastically… The upsetting part in relation to our programme is being unable to reunify girls with their families – either the courts believe families aren’t ready to have them back or their family circumstances have not improved,” said Ngwenya.
Through their residential programme, girls relearn to build relationships, boundaries, respect and hygiene so that when they leave Guild, they are able to function appropriately in society. Guild Cottage also provides individual and group counselling according to each individual’s needs as well as schooling.
They also provide an outreach programme to raise awareness on the impact of abuse, teach community members about warning signs, educate about the long-term damage done to children who are abused and prevention initiatives.
Ngwenya said this year’s greatest challenge was being zoned as Business 4 by the City of Johannesburg in the recent valuations, which compounded the home’s financial woes as 15 per cent of their budget is now consumed by rates.
“We are fortunate that many people have gotten involved to try to get the City to review its stance as Guild Cottage has never been a business or harboured any intention to make our home into anything other than a sanctuary for children in distress. The greatest Christmas gift for us would be knowing that we do not need to pay rates.”
It costs R2,5 million a year to run the home which needs assistance from the community to cover the various costs involved in its functioning.
Their Christmas requests include the following:
- Christmas decorations
- Duvet covers for single beds
- New underwear for girls
- Dresses for girls
- Shorts and T-shirts
- Schoolbags
- Shoes
- Christmas gifts
- School shoes
If you are able to give in any way, please call the Guild Cottage on 011 726 2102 to make arrangements for a drop-off.
Related articles:
