The love is in the books

Spread the love of reading this month by getting involved with the The Robin Hood Foundation’s Love to Read campaign.

Chairlady and founder of The Robin Hood, Cindy Norcott said they believe that education is the main key to eradicating poverty.

“We would like to focus a large amount of attention on early childhood development in 2017. This is the most important area to get the foundations right for small children to be able to learn and grow to their full potential,” said Norcott.

She said recent research confirmed that the first five years of a child’s life are particularly important for the development of their brain, with the first three years being the most critical in shaping the brain’s architecture.

“These are the foundation years that shapes children’s future health, happiness, growth, development and learning achievement at school, in the family and community, and in life in general.”

Early experiences provide the base for the brain’s organizational development and functioning throughout life. They have a direct impact on how children develop learning skills as well as social and emotional abilities.

The Robin Hood Foundation realised that most children in rural areas are left with an untrained care giver at a ‘crèche’ or day care facility. Their main function is to see that they are fed and looked after while their gogo, single mum or dad work.

“While we are seeing and meeting some incredible people in the community that are starting these crèches with such good intention, the reality is they just do not have the funding to provide any proper educational value to these children making the gap to bridge when starting Grade R at seven even more of a leap.”

The Robin Hood Foundation co-ordinator Kim Griffith Jones said they are appealing to the community to help them reach their goal.

“We want to provide educational upliftment for up to 20 creches by collecting over 5000 books and educational toys that will help with the children’s development. We are planning to visit these crèches at the end March and also create an Easter party for the children to create a fun and memorable day for them,” said Griffith Jones.

You can help by donating the following: brand new colouring-in books and crayons; gently used second hand books for all ages and educational toys/puzzles and marshmallow Easter eggs for their Easter parties. Businesses and corporates can “Make your mark” and donate a bookshelf with a plaque for R1000 or Zapper scan here to donate R50 Love to Read.

If you would like to get involved, please contact Kim Griffith Jones on 0766129060 or email robinhoodfund@telkomsa.net

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