August 2009 Newsletter
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| Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund Update - Newsletter No 3 2009 | ||||||||
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| Welcome to the third newsletter for 2009 of the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund !! It has been a truly amazing last few months for the Scholarship Fund as we continue to grow at a blessed rate and are able to offer the gift of education to an ever increasing number of young men. In our last newsletter just four months ago we stated that we were hoping to be able to give a total of 5 new scholarships in 2010 but due to some amazing generosity, as we enter our fourth year of operation, it seems we may be able to offer as many as 10 additional scholarships to underprivileged boys entering Grade 8 at Jeppe High School for Boys next year. This will bring the total number of boys on the Scholarship to almost of twenty five - an incredible accomplishment made possible only through the generosity of so many of the 600 people on our database. Along with the new developments and opportunities highlighted in this newsletter, this growth has naturally bought with it many challenges particularly as the time commitment increases and we continue to strive to honour our commitment to spend 100% of the funding on the Scholarship Boys rather than on administration or logistical costs. Should you be one of the many donors and interested parties who are new to this newsletter, please check out our website by clicking here. Remember, you are able to easily UNSUBSCRIBE from this quarterly newsletter should you not wish to receive it in the future. Thank you for your continued involvement and support, without which many boys would not be able to receive an education and the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund would be little more than an unfulfilled distant dream. Kind regards, Dale and Craig Jackson | ||||||||
| Update on the Boys | ||||||||
| The current scholarship recipients are all progressing extremely well and enjoying life at Jeppe. This is not to say that, like all teenagers, they do not encounter challenges but with the help of regular appointments with the psychologist and meetings with myself, we are overcoming the majority of these minor hurdles and I remain convinced that we can expect all of the boys to develop into fine young men of whom we can all be proud. This is an achievement not to be underestimated as it is the opinion of the psychologist, as well as educators at Jeppe, that without the Scholarship, the majority of these boys would have been highly unlikely to have obtained a good education and their future prospects would thus be significantly diminished. To quote the psychologist, Dr Ian Opperman: "Many of the boys on the Scholarship Fund have endured some of the most severe circumstances I have ever encountered and yet all of them are great boys with the potential to overcome their past and go on to achieve success" Some recent achievements worthy of mention amongst the current recipients are: •Daniel Rogers was placed in the Top 10 Academic students in Grade 9 with an average in excess of 80% with Jabulani Hadebe also ranked within the Top 10 in Grade 8 •Dillen Olivier was named Grade 8 rugby player of the year •Tumi Matsoba was named junior hockey player of the year •Colin Khuthe recently took part in both the boys and girls school drama productions to rave reviews •Bruce Nkosi has just made it to the final stage of trials for the Gauteng U15 cricket side this year and is one of the quickest bowlers Jeppe has seen for some time (this despite not having any cricket kit after it was recently stolen) •Donald Mokoena was a member of the junior cross country team and achieved a number of high placed finishes.
In 2010, all recipients will also be required to participate in the Presidents Award programme which is a youth empowerment programme held over a four - five year period with an international qualification aimed at boys of all abilities and age groups. Lastly, we have also been able to add the following boys onto the scholarship in 2009 due to additional funding received: •Sihle Shongwe in Grade 10 in Oribi has received funding from Kent Grobbelaar for his hostel accommodation. Sihle is a fine athlete and was recomended to the Fund by the hostel masters at Oribi. •As a result of additional funding which became available from the James Ritchie Trust, we have also been able to offer financial assistance to both Shane Robbins and Henry Gibbs in Grade 9 at Tsessebe. | ||||||||
| 2010 Scholarships | ||||||||
| The candidates for our 2010 scholarship intake are by far the most talented to date and with over 40 applicants who meet our criteria, it is also our largest ever group. Although this increased group is a function of our growth and expanding reputation it is also as a result of a concentrated recruitment effort which has seen us identifying applicants from the following sources and by utilising methods such as: •Sending emails to a database of over 50 local primary school headmasters •Corresponding with orphanages within the Gauteng region •Developing relationships with schools such as Vuleka - an amazing Christian run organisation which provides primary school education to underpriveleged children, the majority of whom are from under-resourced townships. •Identifying worthy applicants from the Jeppe High School admissions process •Allowing for potential scholars to apply on-line on our website or via the Jeppe Old Boy network As a result of the above, we have received applications from a number of candidates who meet the criteria required for obtaining a Scholarship, namely (1) disadvantaged family circumstances, (2) disadvantaged financial circumstances and (3) a burning desire for success and strength of character despite (1) and (2). Below is a random sample of the 2010 applicants:
Although we are still looking for sponsors for 2010, there are a number of new individual and corporate sponsors who have committed themselves next year to sponsoring the above boys (as well as others) and for whom we are extremely grateful. Details thereof will be divulged in the next newsletter once their involvement has been finalised and boys allocated to them. | ||||||||
| Management and Administrative Developments | ||||||||
| We are continuing to update and improve our website as many of you may have noticed. If you haven't been on the site in a while, please check out the website additions and new letters from recipients (such as Donald Mokoena's May 2009 letter) and let us know what you think. I have also been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century phenomenon of social networking and the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund can now be found on Facebook for all those of you who are disciples of this website. We are slowly adding content and improving the layout of our Facebook site - why not join the 144 fans we have to date by going to our homepage and clicking through to our Facebook site by clicking here With the number of Scholarship recipients expected to swell significantly in 2010 the resources required to manage the Fund and service the needs of the recipients has increased greatly. Although I am fortunate to be able to continue volunteering at Jeppe for 2 days per week wherein I can oversee many aspects of the Fund, this increased workload will necessitate the appointment of additional communication and administration resources in the near future. However, in our desire to ensure 100% of the funding continues to be spent on the boys, Craig and myself will continue to cover these expenses personally although one or two individuals have also approached us privately and offered their assistance with these costs for which we are extremely grateful. In our next newsletter we will unveil theses additional resources and their roles at the Scholarship Fund. Due to the success of the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund we have also been approached, and subsequently accepted, to take over the management of a number of other Scholarships at Jeppe which exist for financially disadvantaged scholars. These scholarships, which from 2010 will add a further 7- 10 scholars to our stable, include: •The Buffey Bull Scholarship - which will sponsor 2 boys in 2010 •Lasting Legacy Scholarships - which currently assists in the schooling of 5 boys •The Jeppe Old Boys Scholarship - a new Scholarship targeted at sons of Old boys Please click here to learn more about these Scholarships. Although there are currently no costs associated with the above scholarships, other than my time, any costs which do arise will be ring-fenced to these Funds and will be separately accounted for. | ||||||||
| Financial Matters and Assistance | ||||||||
| The Scholarship Fund finances are looking extremely healthy with over R1.5 million pleadged and collected to date. As seen in the pie chart below, these funds have been received from a variety of sources with the biggest source of funding coming from individuals and corporates who sponsor a particular boy (Recipient specific donations).  Five years of high school education is a long time to make a financial commitment, either as an individual or a company, particularly in light of the current financial environment. Accordingly, in order to ensure that we are never in a position where we have to terminate a scholarship due to lack of funding I am conservative in the number of scholarships awarded and always ensure that there is a healthy amount in the bank should a particular donor be unable to fulfill their commitments and to allow for cashflow and timing constraints between payment of fees and collection of monies. As a result, there is currently a surplus of just over R700,000 in the bank account. As seen in the expenditure pie chart below, 97% of expenses relate to school and hostel fees with psychologist visits, uniforms, tours and sundries making up the remaining 3%. Administration, logistical and management costs are NIL although within 'other" costs are website, e-Commerce and IT support services of approximately R1,775 ex VAT per month. These costs will be covered via specific donors who have offered to have their contributions ring-fenced for these costs.  HOW CAN YOU ASSIST ? Many of you have recently asked how you can assist the Scholarship Fund besides donating money. There are many ways in which people can help and I have listed some of the challenges that we are facing below: •Transport - With up to 25 boys on the Scholarship next year, our ability to transport recipients to fundraising events, psychologist appointments, meeting with donors and the like is becoming extremely challenging and in time the purchase of a 13 seater combi or similar such vehicle will be required. If anyone has contacts or ideas in this regard, please contact me on djackson@jeppeboys.co.za •Mentorship - Although a number of people have volunteered to assist in being a mentor to a child as from 2010, we are still looking for more mentors. This is NOT an onerous task as the majority of requirements of the child and daily issues are handled by myself or the school. However, it is important for the boys to have someone allocated to them who is able to watch them play sport, encourage them and simply meet with them every few months to offer some advice, support and encouragement. A meeting will be held with potential mentors near the end of the year and the roles explained in greater detail. Should you be interested in becoming a mentor, please email me at djackson@jeppeboys.co.za •Corporate Introductions / BEE - Many of the boys on the Scholarship are sponsored by companies to whom we were introduced by a third party who "opened the door". If you know of, or work at, a company who you believe would be interested in supporting the Scholarship Fund, a simple email, phonecall or introduction to the relevant decision maker could result in another boy receiving a scholarship. Likewise, as a result of the CSI provisions within the BEE Codes, many companies, particularly those with turnovers less than R35 million can achieve a significant percentage of their BEE points simply by sponsoring a boy. A number of companies are making use of this provision. •Cellphones and laptops - We are considering purchasing pay-as-you-go cellphones for those boys who do not have them as it is extremely difficult to arrange and confirm meetings and attendance at events with those boys who do not have a cellphone. In addition, we are also considering installing computers for the boys at their hostels so that they can do school projects and assignments which are so vital a component of the new curriculum and which the boys are severely hampered by as a result of the lack of computer facilities either at the hostel or their homes. If anyone can assist or has contacts in the above areas, please contact me on djackson@jeppeboys.co.za •Events - The boys have attended the IPL and Confed Cup in 2009. However, we are always looking for new experiences which the boys can enjoy and should any of you have access to an event, function or occasion which you think the boys may enjoy, please contact me. •Work experience - I am always encouraging the boys to have exposure to different work environments, particularly in their holidays, so that they can form a clearer idea of what future careers they wish to pursue. Although transport is a challenge, should you be able to offer unpaid work experience to the boys, please contact me. Similarily, I am also arranging talks by various experts in different career fields (commerce, medicine, engineering, law, sport, teaching, etc etc) so that the boys are able to ask questions and understand in greater detail what a particular career involves. If you would like to come talk to the boys, please contact me. •Fundraising events - Certain individuals have proactively undertaken to arrange their own fundraising events for the Scholarship Fund such as mini-golf days, ladies dinners and quiz evenings with all funds raised going towards the fund and, in some cases, a particular scholar. Should you wish to pursue his option, please feel free to chat to me. The above are just a sample of ways in which you can assist. Should you wish to get involved in any way whatsoever, please contact me. | ||||||||
| Upcoming Events | ||||||||
Please remember the Annual Spinathon which this year will be held at Planet Fitness - Village Walk in late October.
Watch out for the email invitation in this regard, but should you wish to book your spot early, please contact Craig on cjackson@investec.co.za | ||||||||
| Should you be a recent addition to this mailing list and wish to read previous newsletters, please click here. Should you wish to be removed from this mailing list, please click on the UNSUBSCRIBE link below To check your details, and update them if necessary - please click on the update link at the bottom left. |
