Youth Day 2023: Creating Safe Spaces for the mental well-being of our children
Good Morning Angels and Community Keepers have come together to create Safe Spaces for our youth this Youth Month!
To mark Youth Day 2023, Jacaranda FM will focus on supporting school children with mental wellness and well-being.
Someone who witnesses or experiences loss, neglect, poverty, violence or abuse can become traumatised, hopeless and reactive.
This includes children – who are often overlooked when it comes to active and pro-active mental care.
Providing a Safe Space at schools, where there are no such facilities, would go a long way in helping children deal with trauma and mental health challenges and creating a mentally healthy society.
That's why Jacaranda FM has partnered with Community Keepers, a Western Cape-based NPO, that specializes in creating these Safe Spaces.
- Community Keepers is currently active in 35 Western Cape schools, serving 32 000 learners - as well as their caregivers, families, and teachers.
- Community Keepers are gearing up to roll out their services in 20 Gauteng schools in Eersterust, Mamelodi East and West from 1 July 2023.
- This roll-out in Gauteng has been made possible by a Treasury Department Jobs Fund grant, as well as private funding, as all of the Community Keepers services are rendered pro-bono to low-income school communities.
- Community Keepers train unemployed youth and social workers in the communities where they work, to serve in these schools. Besides rendering a vital service, they are also creating around 60 new jobs, employing young mothers, and empowering school levers to earn a living while serving their community.
PS Fourie Primary School in Eersterust is the first school in Gauteng to receive its own Community Keepers Safe Space.
- The school provides far more than education to its 1300 learners:
- this school also provides meals (even during school holidays),
- assists with uniforms and many other things that their families simply cannot provide.
- They serve some of the poorest of the poor.
- Principal BS (Brighton Sifiso) Nkosi says their biggest mission is to make sure that no child is left behind, due to the circumstances they are born into.
REQUEST FOR: PS Fourie Primary School, represented by Principal BS Nkosi
ANGEL 1: Retha Ingenbleek representing Spar North Rand
SPONSORING: 750 pairs of brand-new school shoes for the PS Fourie Primary School Uniform Bank.
ANGEL 2: Good Morning Angels Fund NPC
SPONSORING: R50 000 towards uniform needs, for children in the PS Fourie Primary School
ANGEL 3: Community Keepers funded by the Treasury Department's Jobs Fund
SPONSORING: The very first Gauteng Community Keepers Safe Space (value: R300 000)
ANGEL 4: The Spur team represented by Queen Nkotsoe
SPONSORING: The Spur team cooked 1500 burgers for the children, staff, and guests, served with a cool drink for each person at the Outside Broadcast
ANGEL 5: Ciro Coffee represented by Peter
SPONSORING: Warm drinks for all guests and staff at the outside broadcast - THANK YOU!
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