There were wide grins at the iThemba Academy on 17 January for the first day of the school year.  The Foundation Phase School’s biggest intake to date of 51 children entered the school corridors.

Thanks to the generosity of corporate and individual donors 25 children from the Embo Valley have received bursaries to attend the school.  The ultimate goal is to gain funding to cover a further 25 children.

“Classes are taught in English which is a huge advantage for the rest of their schooling years,” explained Sue Sage, Principal of iThemba Academy.

The Lewis Group, South Africa’s single largest furniture brand, supported ten learners in 2010, fifteen in 2011 and has pledged to continue their commitment in 2012.  In addition Consolidated Financial Planning, D&B Industrial Consultants (2), DHI, FreeThinking, G&G Chartered Accountants, Kauai Hillcrest, PIL Shipping and Transnet (2) are supporting children.

Focus on iThemba children attending various local primary and senior schools also received great support for their education. Behr (2), Corporate Tax Solutions, Karen King, Spring Lights Gas, Transnet (3), Wimpy and Yvonne Bailey all chose to cover education costs to ensure that their futures continue to soar.

“We are very grateful to all our supporters for providing these children an opportunity to shine and receive quality education.  Each child is special and feels proud to be wearing their school uniform today,” said Nadine Wright, Donor Relations Manager at iThemba.

To come on board and sponsor a child please contact Nadine on Nadine.wright@focusonithemba.org

The 15 children sponsored by the Lewis Group pictured with Nadine Wright, iThemba Donor Relations Manager, on their first day of the school year

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