Roodepoort Child Welfare and Lukiwe Family Services cemented their close working relationship with a Bags of Hope event held at the Hope Covenant Church in Discovery on Saturday, January 31.

According to Roodepoort Child Welfare’s managing director and chief social worker Lerato Songo, the partnership with Lukiwe Family Services is a crucial one.

“As Roodepoort Child Welfare, we intervene in situations where children are in danger.

“Such children are removed from the environment in which they are vulnerable, and placed with foster families.

“Lukiwe Family Services works closely with these foster families, offering support and working to strengthen family units through their various activities.”

Amy Peront, the owner of Lukiwe Child Services, adds, “Our service takes over where Roodepoort Child Welfare leaves off, therefore it is important for us to collaborate closely.

The two organisations presented foster children with Bags of Hope, personalised duffel bags filled with age and gender appropriate gifts and essential items.

“Being removed from the environment that they know, regardless of the circumstances, is traumatising for a child,” says Songo.

“They often don’t have anything they can call their own, nor do they have any real privacy.

“These bags, each having the child’s name embroidered on it, offers children exactly that: the bag and its contents, which they can call their own, and the sense of privacy that it provides.”

The event was a huge success with just under 100 bags being distributed on the day.