Rotary Invests more than half a million rand into skills and sustainable entrepreneurial development.
On Thursday 28 September, the Rotary Club of Wynberg presented a cheque to Learn to Earn’s Ground UP Barista Academy for R585 000. The funding was realised through partnerships with the Rotary Foundation, the Rotary Club of Tavistock Devon UK, Rotary District 1175 of the UK, the Rotary District 9350 (South Africa) and the Rotary Club of Wynberg.
The portion of the funds invested will go towards training 26 unemployed adults with basic Barista skills. The 8 week Ground UP Barista course focuses not only on the core Barista skill, but also holistic development through the Learn to Ear Life Skills programme, which includes a Job Readiness module.
The second part of Rotary’s investment funding will go toward the fitting out of two trailers to offer a full coffee solution. This will include industrial coffee machines, grinders and point of sale equipment. The trailers will be operated by Ground UP Barista graduates who are on Learn to Earn’s E³ programme.
Thursday’s event celebrated the milestone of the collaborative efforts within Rotary. Present were Rotary Wynberg’s President Rob Murphy and Catherine Bailey, Tavistock’s Past President who handed over the Cheque to Learn to Earn’s Director Roché van Wyk. The project was driven by the collective efforts of Rotarians Jackie James of Rotary Wynberg and Catherine Bailey, who worked on the project for over a year.
The Rotary funding shows how collaboration between clubs and districts internationally, can together, make small contributions into a significant investment towards entrepreneurship and skills development, and thus a sustainable difference in communities. In this case Rotary Foundation matched contributions from the clubs and districts, further expanding the contribution.
Others present from Rotary were Past Wynberg members Peter Bailey, Virginia Bailey, a past inner wheeler, Rotarians Alan Jackson, Justin and Ruth Schonegevel and Assistant Governor for District 9350 Paul Strohrer. Present from Learn to Earn were Barbara Lipp, Robyn Anderson and Zolani Mayile.
Zolani Mayile a Ground UP Academy graduate, is currently in his 2nd year in Learn to Earn’s 3-year E³ programme (Enterprise Enabling Environment), while on the programme he is being mentored in business skills and applying those skills while working in a Ground UP Mobile trailer. Graduates who are accepted onto the programme begin work at the ‘flagship’ trailer at Rondebosch Boys High where they work and train until they well-grounded in business operations and then move on to their own unit to manage.




