Mtwalume’s Thanda Community Centre, a non-profit organisation, has strengthened its bond with its long-standing partner Beiersdorf to continue changing the lives of those in rural KZN.

About 119 of Beiersdorf’s Durban-based staff volunteered their time at Thanda in line with the company’s inaugural Care Beyond Skin Day recently.

Volunteers and media houses including the South Coast Herald were taken on a tour of the community centre on the day. Some of the voluntary work included gardening, painting, interacting with the children and more.
Thanda has been in existence for many years and was founded by Angela Larkan and Tyler Howard with the intention of providing support and education for young children in rural KZN.

The NPO has had a successful seven-year partnership with Beiersdorf which has further committed a funding donation, to address the critical long-term aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The relationship between the company and Thanda is ‘deeply meaningful’ as this partnership is greatly vested in the health, wellness and future success of the children in the Mtwalume area,” said Godwin Harrison, managing director for Beiersdorf Southern Africa.

“With this commitment, Beiersdorf lives up to its sustainability agenda of care beyond skin, which seeks to enhance inclusivity within society and achieve sustainable advancements in environmental protection.”

The Care Beyond Skin funding relief comes on the back of a pledge in 2020 by Beiersdorf to contribute to the world’s collective fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Phase 1 in 2020 focussed on immediate relief to take care of the children, vulnerable and elderly in the community, ensuring access to food and water, and continued education. Phase 2 included implementation and roll-out of long-term sustainable food solutions via youth-led organic farming programmes. This funding helped ensure Thanda, and its beneficiaries were less disrupted by the onset of the pandemic and subsequent economic lockdown.

Phase 3 which commenced last month, focuses on building long-term household food security, addressing gaps in early learning, economic youth empowerment and climate resilience in the Thanda community.

“This generous funding from Beiersdorf will enable Thanda to implement an intense project to empower beneficiaries across 32 targeted neighbourhoods and seven municipal wards, effectively impacting 1000 households, to become resilient in the long-term,” added Angela Larkan, Thanda.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram