Thusong Projects brings Christmas joy to Nil Desperandum

NEWCASTLE – Christmas is a special time when family and friends get together to celebrate the festive season.

However, every so often the residents of Nil Desperandum are forgotten, leaving them alone for the holidays, longing for festive joy.

Vesco Group together with Ben Chowles of Monyetla services, Arcelormittal and Thusong Projects embarked on a journey to donate gift bags filled with blankets, wool, toiletries and sweet treats for the residents to enjoy over the Christmas season.

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Residents were overjoyed and especially grateful for the wool parcels, as it would be used in their workshop projects.

Workshop supervisor, Suana Jansen said the association was truly grateful for the donations, as it showed residents that people still cared about them.

“Many of the residents here remain over Christmas because their families seem to have forgotten about them. All these small things like donations and gifts give the residents hope, and make them feel special.”

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Managing Directer of Vesco, Hannes Liebenberg said Thusong Projects was a part of the Vesco Group, and was a community-based non-profit organisation with a long standing business relationship with ArcelorMittal, and regularly assisted in numerous charity programmes.

“I believe in giving back to the community.”

Thusong Projects is situated in Vanderbijlpark, and was established as a one-stop, integrated community project, striving to improve the quality of life of vulnerable local communities through various projects and empowerment programmes.

Besides its charitable programmes, Thusong Projects also has a soup kitchen, where they feed more that 1 500 people on a daily basis.

Other organisations, such as St Anthony Children’s Home and Thembelihle Shelter, have also benefited from the programme, and received gifts of clothes, toiletries and linen.

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