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| | |  | | | Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund Update - Newsletter No. 1 for 2010
| | Update on the boys | 2010 Scholarship Recipients | Communication | Financial Matters | Feedback | | Welcome to the first newsletter of 2010 for the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund !!
As we enter another year, we welcome a further nine (!!) new boys - our largest ever intake - onto the Scholarship.
This brings to 23 the number of boys who are now receiving the opportunity of an education as a result of the generosity of so many of our sponsors and supporters.
We are very excited about the new scholarship recipients entering Jeppe on the Scholarship in 2010 –many of these boys have touching and inspiring stories and it is through your generosity that we are able to fulfil their dreams.
We look forward to introducing the Class of 2010 to you on our website (www.theojacksonfund.org.za) and at future fundraising activities throughout the year.
Our existing scholars, as seen below, continue to perform, in the main, extremely well and are a credit to themselves, their school and the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund.
2010 will also see a number of developments and changes in the way the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund is managed and administrated. As explained in greater detail below, these changes are designed to keep pace with the continued growth in the Scholarship and to allow us to provide a quality service to the boys, sponsors and our supporters.
Although this newsletter is lengthly, communicating with our sponsors and supporters is important to us and we hope you’ll be able to find the time to read through it.
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 newsletter (sent three times per year) should you not wish to receive it in the future. Should you wish to review previous newsletters, please click here.
Thank you for your continued involvement and support which continues to allow us to fulfil the dreams of so many young boys.
May 2010 bring you much happiness and success!!
Kind regards,
Dale and Craig Jackson
| | What’s New in 2010 | 2010 promises to be an exciting year for the Scholarship!
We welcome a number of new and exciting sponsors, both corporate and individuals, who have undertaken the commitment to sponsor a boy, either for one year or a full five year period. Whilst there are many existing donors who are supporting the Scholarship, I would like to make mention of the following sponsors who have joined us in 2010:
- Investec Bank (who will be sponsoring three boys in 2010!!)
- Tony Cimato of Viva Engineering
- BDO Spencer Steward via the James Ritchie Charitable Trust (who already sponsor a boy)
- Joe Matamunye of Aloe Capital
- Collen Gibbs of Efficient Engineering
- Balwin Properties
The following individuals have also committed to funding which will benefit a scholarship recipient: - Nicola & John Hansen
- Paul van Meurs
- Rob Kearns
The fact that we are now managing almost 30 boys (when the Bull Buffey, Lasting Legacy and Terry Blake Scholarships are included) means that we have reached a level of maturity and growth that has necessitated a number of changes to the structure of the Scholarship Fund in 2010. These include: - The employment of additional resources
As discussed in the previous newsletter, the size and complexity of the Scholarship Fund now warrants full-time resources dedicated thereto. Accordingly, as from February 2010, Elaine Jackson will join the Scholarship in a full-time capacity. Elaine’s costs will be covered by Dale and Craig Jackson (as well as certain donors who have offered to ring-fence their contributions to be utilised towards administration costs) and will thus not impact on the Scholarship finances.
Elaine can be contacted on elaine@theojacksonfund.org.za
- The introduction of a “Board of Directors”
Due to the increasing complexity of running the Scholarship Fund and in order to be transparent with finances and governance whilst ensuring that we continue to provide a superior service to the boys, our sponsors and supporters, we will be formalising the organisation of the Scholarship to include a “board” type structure. The aim will be to include experts in the business, fundraising and charity arenas who are able to give advice and input on a fairly informal quarterly basis as to the direction and operations of the Scholarship.
- Statutory and Structuring
The opening of a separate bank account and registration of a unique PBO number for the Scholarship is also a priority. Up until this point, due to the initial modest ambitions of the Scholarship Fund, we have been operating, with their blessing, as a “subsidiary” of the Jeppe Foundation and utilising the bank account and PBO status thereof.
We have received a very positive response from a number of people to act as mentors for the boys in 2010 and will consequently be implementing the mentorship programme in 2010.
- Management of other Scholarships
In 2009 we took over the management of a number of other scholarships and this has expanded in 2010 to include the Bull Buffey Scholarship and Terry Blake Family Scholarship which both consist of scholarships for financially disadvantaged scholars who exhibit a high degree of sporting talent. This has added a further three boys for us to manage in 2010. Please click here to learn more about these Scholarships.
| | Update on the Boys | 2010 was a successful year for the majority of boys on the Scholarship Fund.
The increased structure, regular meetings with psychologists and teachers as well as my presence on campus all contributed to the majority of boys improving their performances and contributions to Jeppe. As previously stated, I remain convinced that we can expect the boys to develop into fine young men of whom we can all be proud.
Some recent achievements and events worthy of mention amongst the current recipients are:
- Colin Khuthe was recently promoted to the 1st 8 Rowing team as cox, a significant achievement given that he was only in Grade 9 at the time and thus has in excess of three years ahead of him in the 1st 8.
- Tumi Matsoba won the 800m inter-high athletics event for U14’s, another significant achievement given that he was competing against the top Gauteng boys schools and only a handful of boys at Jeppe achieved this feat.
- Both Daniel Rogers and Jabulani Hadebe were ranked within the Top 10 Scholars in their grade.
- Our first scholarship recipient, Kedem Goldschtein will be writing matric this year and we wish him all the best in this endeavour. Kedem has set himself the ambitious, yet realistic goal, of achieving four distinctions for matric and studying towards a law degree next year.
- In December all the boys on the Scholarship had the opportunity to get their eyes tested at Leslie Sessel Optometrists in Bedfordview.This opportunity, organised by Eddie and Linda Oliver of Essilor was extremely valuable as the majority of the boys had never before had their eyes tested.
- Computer resources into the hostels – Along with Glenn Fullerton and the Royal Bafokeng Holdings company, the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund also recently arranged for state of the art computers and internet connectivity to be installed for all the boys at their hostels. This will allow the boys to complete school projects and assignments which are so vital a component of the new curriculum.
 | Over the December holidays, 12 Scholarship boys undertook the opportunity to attend the Sugar Bay holiday camp at Zinkwzi on the Natal north coast.
This holiday was paid for by the Scholarship as we felt it important that the boys experience some of the joys of being able to go on an annual holiday to the coast and mix with other learners their own age.
Many of the boys had never before seen the sea and every one of them rated it as one of the most enjoyable experience of their lives. | | From next year, participation on the holiday will be linked to the achievement of certain goals and objectives set with each boy at the beginning of the year and will be an incentive for them to achieve such goals. | | | 2010 Scholarship Recipients | We had in excess of 60 candidates apply for Scholarships in 2010 from which we have been able to award scholarships to a total of nine deserving young men on the Theo Jackson Scholarship and three additional recipients on the Bull Buffey and Terry Blake Family Scholarships.
This is by far our largest intake to date and is a reflection on the continued growth of the Scholarship Fund.
We continue to remain true to our three criteria for selection, namely (1) financial need, (2) family circumstances and (3) strength of character and will to succeed despite hardships that have faced these boys in their lives to date.
On the right is our Grade 8 Class of 2010 proudly wearing their new uniforms for the 1st time.
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In our previous newsletter, we briefly highlighted the stories and backgrounds of four of the scholars, namely Daniel Thom, Galaletsang Molefi, Vuyo Mathani and Wandile Mtungwa. Please click here to read their stories.
In this newsletter, I would like to briefly mention the stories of another two new recipients, Nhlakanipho Mkhize and Steven Maloya, as I believe they encapsulate the true spirit and meaning of what we are trying to achieve at the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund:
Nhlakanipho Mkhize is a 15 yr old orphan previously living in rural KZN and attending a school where the teachers regularly ran out of chalk (when they bother to even attend class) and where no computers nor sports existed. Despite all this Nhlakanipho managed to get 100% for Grade 10 Maths in his year end report and straight A’s for his other subjects whilst also teaching himself and others parts of the Grade 11 & 12 Maths syllabus.
Thanks to Sabelo Mbuthu, a chartered accountant at KMPG (who has an amazing story in his own right and who found the Scholarship Fund by googling us on the internet) we met with Nhlaka and thereafter approached Setlogane Manchidi and his team at Investec with the possibility of sponsorship.
Investec met with Nhlaka and offered him a full scholarship on the spot !!!
As a result, Nhlakanipho has been enrolled onto the Scholarship Fund and at Jeppe as from 2010 – a few short weeks ago, his life had few options - now, the world is his oyster and he has plans to study to be a chemical engineer or accountant ......... An amazing and inspiring story that encapsulates WHY we do this !!
 | | Nhlakanipho meeting with his Investec sponsors |
 | As a young man living at Abraham Kriel orphanage, and having missed two years of school when his destitute family lived in the back of an abandoned car, Steven Maloya had seen much hardship in his young life. His dream, and constant prayer, was that he might one day be able to attend Jeppe.
Although Steven worked hard and became head boy of his primary school and improved his grades by a full 10% overall in order to improve his chances of acceptance to Jeppe, the dream remained unlikely to be fulfilled until Steven began playing club rugby at Jeppe Quondam.
So impressed were the chairman and his coaches that they referred him to the Scholarship and, in the last week of school in 2009, he became our final recipient of the Scholarship and, with it, the possibility of achieving his life ambition of studying law whilst playing professional rugby. |
There are always worthy boys, just like Nhlakanipho and Steven, and our only constraint is available funding - should you wish to sponsor a boy from 2011, please contact me on dale@step.co.za
| | Communication | We truly appreciate the fantastic generosity and commitment of our sponsors, donors and event supporters and strive to communicate regularly with you through a variety of different mediums such as:
- Newsletters such as this one which we aim to send out at least three times per year
- Regular letters from the boys at least twice per annum thanking the sponsors and updating them on their progress. These newsletters can be found on the website under each individual boys’ profile.
- Our Facebook group ("Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund") now has 178 members. Our aim is to reach 300 members by the end of 2010.
- Our website continues to be updated and improved as many of you may have noticed. If you haven't been on the site in a while, please check out the updates and let us know what you think.
| Financial Matters and Assistance
| The Scholarship Fund finances continue to be extremely healthy with over R815,000 in our bank account as at 30th November 2009 (before collection, and payment, of 2010 fees).
In the spirit of transparency, full finances are available to any donor or supporter and our finances are independently verified by external auditors as well as, ex Jeppe headmaster, Kevin Tait.
We continue to be hugely blessed with the number of volunteers we have offering to organise various fundraising activities and corporate and individual sponsors stepping forward to sponsor the boys. The response to our financial needs each year continues to exceed our wildest dreams and allows us to continue offering Scholarships to deserving boys.
Many of you continue to enquire as to how you can assist the Scholarship Fund besides donating money. Such enquiries led to the free provision of Optometry needs by Leslie Sessel and Essilor as described above and the One Group golf day mentioned below and there are many additional ways in which people can help.
I have listed some of the challenges that we are facing, and areas where you might be able to assist, below:
- Transport - With over 25 boys on the Scholarships this year, our ability to transport recipients to fundraising events, psychologist appointments, meeting with donors and the like is becoming extremely challenging and we are hoping to purchase a vehicle for this purpose in 2010.
- 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", often to assist with BEE compliance requirements. 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.
- Cellphones - 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.
- Unique experiences – In 2009, the boys attended the IPL, Sugar Bay and Confed Cup. In 2010, we have received an offer from Les Godwin to take the boys for a weekend to a game lodge, an incredible and brand new experience for many of them. We are always looking for new experiences which the boys can embark on and should any of you have access to an event, function or occasion which you think the boys may enjoy, please contact me.
- Fundraising events - Certain individuals and companies, such as the One Group, have proactively undertaken to arrange their own fundraising events for the Scholarship Fund. Should you wish to pursue this option, please let me know.
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 on dale@step.co.za
| | Recent Events | The last few months of 2009 were a busy period for the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund with a number of successful events being held during this period:
Legends Quiz Evening
 | On Tuesday 17th November a “Legends Sports Quiz” fundraiser event, organised by members of the Jeppe Quondam Athletics Section, was held in honour of the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund at Jeppe Quondam.
The Fundraiser, headline sponsored by Shemer Jewellers and Tag Heuer, was a massive success and attracted 250 people including such sporting legends as Bruce Fordyce, Mark Batchelor, Adam Bacher, Clive Esksteen and Huge Page.
Teams consisting of 10 members answered a variety of sporting related questions across five categories with numerous prizes, a raffle draw and an auction of a signed Springbok jersey donated by the all-conquering 2009 Springbok squad complementing proceedings.
| | A photo of the winning team – the Sears captained “Ras Dumisani’s” | Over R140,000 was raised which will allow the Scholarship to offer a further three scholars the opportunity to attend Jeppe in 2010.
The event is expected to become an annual fixture on the Scholarship calendar. |
Charity Hat Run
 | On Sunday 29th November, the Jeppe Quondam Athletics section held their annual charity run / walk, sponsored by Balwin Properties and organised, once again, by the Fund’s biggest supporter, Jo Kavanagh.
The boys were out in full force to assist with the marshalling on the course and made quite a spectacle in their school uniforms and “YOU Make Joburg Great” signs supplied by Penquin.
After the walk, Steve Brookes of Balwin Properties handed over a cheque of R40,000 to the Scholarship which will be utilised to fund the education of a one boy in 2010. |
Annual Spinathon
 | On Saturday 31st October, the 2nd annual spinathon took place at Planet Fitness, Village Walk.
The venue, supplied free of charge by Dorian Cabral of Planet Fitness and a long time supporter of the Scholarship, was fantastic and three full classes of cyclists worked out in preparation for the Momentum 94.7 cycle challenge.
Not only was a great deal of fun hand by all with numerous spot prizes, sponsored by Momentum, being given away throughout the day but on top of it all, almost R15,000 was raised for the Scholarship. |
One Group Golf Day
 | On Tuesday, 15th September, Damian Michael and Brett Gordon of the One Group held a small golf day for certain of their selected clients.
The golf day, hosted by Graeme Joffe, was arranged entirely for the benefit of the Theo Jackson Scholarship and was a fantastic gesture on behalf of the One Group.
Upon conclusion, a cheque of R20,000 was handed over by Damian and Brett to Donald Mokoena and Daniel Rogers.
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Upcoming Events
Please take note of the following Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund events which are happening in the 1st six months of 2010: - In April 2010 Craig Jackson will be running the London Marathon in the colours of the Jeppe Quondam Athletics section. As is the norm with entrants into the London marathon , Craig has committed to raise funds for charity with all proceeds from Craig’s efforts going towards the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund.
If you would like to sponsor Craig, please contact him on cjackson@investec.co.za
- The 4th Annual Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund Golf Day, a very popular and always sold out event, will be taking place once again at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Thursday 22nd April this year. As in all three previous years, we are expecting the field to be fully booked so please email me on dale@step.co.za as soon as possible should you wish to book a fourball.
Thank you all for your continued support of the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund and our various events. We look forward to bringing further news about successes and developments throughout 2010.
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Craig Jackson is running the London Marathon to raise Funds for the Theo Jackson Scholarship Fund. If you wish to support him, Click Here. 
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