Old Mutual’s massive volunteer project to uplift communities
Midway through the campaign, more than 2 780 civic-minded Old Mutual (South Africa) employees have stepped out of their comfort zones in one of the country’s largest volunteerism campaigns - Care and Share, which takes place during the first and last weeks of November.
The Care and Share campaign is the biggest corporate community outreach programme in a single month in South Africa. The volunteers are from every aspect of Old Mutual’s operations across the country - conducting work as diverse as painting children’s homes, building houses, planting vegetable gardens, spending time with HIV-positive babies and caring for animals.
Each year, staff involvement in Care and Share has grown exponentially to an extent that Old Mutual decided to extend the period from one week to two weeks this year.
In the first week of the campaign (3 to 7 November), 12 houses were built in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban as part of Care & Care Habitat for Humanity Builds. This brought the number of houses built since 2002 to 47.
Paul Hanratty, Managing Director of Old Mutual (South Africa), says: “We live in arguably the most exciting country on earth, but face immense challenges, with poverty at the core. We are determined to make a significant and lasting impact in the communities and environment in which we operate.”
Hanratty adds that employee participation in corporate social investment is pivotal to “transforming CSI (Corporate Social Investment) from a tickbox on a scorecard to a fulfilling aspect of business life and an act of collective affirmation.”
Apart from helping to develop disadvantaged communities by supporting various community organisations and schools through the Old Mutual Foundation, the company also strives to make social investment an integral part of the working lives of each and every staff member.
Former South African President, Nelson Mandela, observed at the Live 8 Concert in Johannesburg in 2005 that: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
Andile Ncontsa, Head of the Old Mutual Foundation, says that the basic principle driving staff volunteers is to lend a helping hand.
“Many of those making a difference in the fight against poverty and other socio-economic issues expect nothing in return. They embody the ethos of Ubuntu - an affirmation that ‘I am because we are’, that my humanity is caught up and bound up in yours,” adds Ncontsa.
According to Ncontsa, Care and Share activities culminate in the 16 Days of Activism. Activities that staff are encouraged to participate in draw on the issues identified through the 16 days of activism as well as broader socio-economic issues.
“Projections for the future are great. Owing to a request from staff members, we have now extended Care and Share to become an all year round activity in 2009. This will allow staff to plan year round activities,” says Ncontsa.
Concludes Hanratty, “If every employee in a large company – or business sector, or the economy – contributed in some way to social upliftment, South Africa would look very different to how it does now.”
