Salt40 Foundation helps children move ahead through cycling
With good behaviour and work ethic, the kids are rewarded and allowed to spend an hour riding on a Friday afternoon.
The Salt40 Foundation, which promotes active lifestyles, is directly cutting down on absenteeism in two Ndwedwe schools – all through cycling.
Allied with the Nolands North Coast accounting firm, Salt40 began like many charitable endeavours during the challenging times at the height of Covid-19 pandemic.
It began when the company agreed to receive a donation of a 40-foot shipping container of bicycles from the USA.
Little did they know that global trade would soon virtually grind to a halt, which included added difficulty in importing goods.
“It was admittedly a bit of a shock, but we raised the funds to get it through the import process. After that we had to find somewhere to store it,” said Salt40 founder and Nolands North Coast CEO, Martin Barnard.
The container had to be moved a few times before it found a proper home on the property of the Ballito Gesinskerk, who agreed to accommodate it.
But what does one do with hundreds of bicycles that have been squashed into a container and shipped across the Atlantic?
“We decided we were not just going to go and hand out bicycles, but rather figure out long-term programmes to utilise them,” said Barnard.
Two schools in Ndwedwe, Amabutho Primary School and Qhubakahle Primary School, were the first recipients, with bicycles delivered to be used as an end-of-week reward.
With good behaviour and work ethic, the kids are given the opportunity to spend an hour riding on a Friday afternoon.
This has already shown a marked improvement on absenteeism.
“We also identified a teacher at each school to train up to implement the project and hope this reflects in the children.”
Salt40 is not opposed to donating bicycles where they can be simply used however, with the foundation donating to LIV Village and smaller cases as identified.
They are also not singularly bound to bicycle donations and have helped to raise funds for food parcels and sustainable farming projects.
The name is derived from the 40 references to salt in the Bible, from which the main lessons of ethics, honesty, loyalty and sustainability are derived.
If you would like to help out, you can find details for the Section 18A registered foundation on their Facebook page.
TradeRoot Active’s run on the first Sunday of every month donates R5 per runner to the charity. The runs start at 7am outside Hops.
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