Winner — Corporate Awards: Mr Price Group and RedCap Foundation
A 2005 study by the City of Cape Town concluded that 90% of under-19 girls and nearly 70% of boys do not participate in structured sport activities, mainly because of a lack of facilities.
In Mitchells Plain, the apartheid dormitory township on the Cape Flats, those percentages are likely to be higher as a result of rampant poverty and high levels of substance abuse among the youth. At least 80% of respondents in the study said they believed sport would help uplift their lives by keeping them away from gangsterism and other social problems in Mitchells Plain.
A similar motivation has seen Mr Price Group spend R6.7-million on soccer development programmes in the area since 2004. ‘It is our conviction that sport is an irresistible force for social change in a sport-loving nation and in the context of a social development project,” says group chief executive Stuart Bird.
Because of its pioneering nature, its cohesive impact on communities and its innovative partnerships, the Mitchells Plain football project was voted winner of the sports development category in the Investing in the Future awards this year. But it is only one of several corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives supported by the Mr Price Group since 2003 that received glowing praise from the judging panel.
The company and its RedCap Foundation were also unanimously voted winner of the prestigious overall Corporate Award. ‘Mr Price has ventured where no other corporates were prepared to go. It has taken risks within a developmentally sound framework,” the judges said.
The CSI programme has set out to identify developmental gaps that are not serviced by other funders. Its main beneficiaries are public schools and its focus is on the health, education and wellbeing of children and youth.
‘Research was conducted to establish from both our customers and employees which development areas they wanted us to support. Children and youth were chosen by these stakeholders,” Bird says. ‘Beneficiaries must be from poor communities and low-income groups or schools and they must have a need for our interventions.”
The Young Heroes project was started in response to a need identified by schools and the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town because of the lack of regular physical activity among children. ‘Interventions were needed to address a growing trend of sedentary behaviour in young people. Schools were identified as the preferred place where children can develop a lifestyle of exercising regularly.”
Young Heroes started in 2005 with a pilot in nine public primary schools in KwaZulu-Natal and has since been rolled out in about 80 primary schools in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Suitable coaches are identified and trained to implement curriculum-aligned physical education.
‘Our impact assessment proved that the regular exercise done by children improved their concentration in the classroom, built stronger relationships with teachers who coach them on the field and improved their self-esteem due to a sense of achievement created by achieving goals,” Bird says.
Another RedCap project, called Dreambuilders, tackles risky behaviour among children in high schools and low self-esteem among teenagers by helping them to take responsibility for their future.
The CompStart project has helped 20 schools in KwaZulu-Natal to introduce computer literacy programmes for learners in the past two years. Pioneered by Melusi Zwane, a principal from the Valley of a Thousand Hills, CompStart is pioneering partnerships in a province where 68% of schools do not have any computer equipment.
The Investing in the Future judges praised RedCap’s innovative partnerships with a wide range of public and private entities, as well as the exit strategy it has built into most of its projects to ensure they are sustainable. Last year the Mr Price Group spent R7.8-million, or 1% of after-tax profit, on its CSI initiatives. With an eye on the sustainability of the foundation, it has also launched several fundraising initiatives.
‘We identified the need to sustain the foundation’s income, especially in challenging economic times,” says Bird. ‘Many companies have not been able to continue their normal allocation to community development initiatives and we have seen many CSI budgets reduced. ‘This has a devastating impact on non-profit and community-based organisations, including schools, that are reliant on the support of companies.”
The group’s Kids are Priceless campaign developed cause-related products such as teddy bears that are sold in Mr Price Home and Sheet Street stores. Funds raised don’t only go to RedCap — 35% was also donated to the United Nations Children’s Fund this year.
Natasja Ambrosio, the group’s CSI manager, says that the name of the RedCap Foundation is linked to the iconic brand of the Mr Price Group.
‘The RedCap is an aspirational brand, especially among the youth and particularly those involved in sport,” she says. ‘It was fitting to use the name for the foundation as we are working with children and youth to inspire them and teach them healthy habits, such as regular exercise.
‘We wanted children and youth to have an aspiration to the foundation’s brand and we have seen this when entering schools with projects. The RedCap is often used as an incentive for excellence and achievement for both learners and educators, as they all want to have the RedCap.”
The Investing in the Future judging panel commented on the stylish way the group’s corporate identity has been linked to its CSI initiatives. ‘The projects have been done tastefully and the company has allowed its brand to be associated with the initiatives in a tasteful manner,” they said.