The Hope Factory's first step in going national
One of South Africa's unsung corporate social investment heroes will launch in Port Elizabeth on September 9.
The unqualified success of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants' (SAICA) Thuthuka Hope Factory Wealth Creation project in Cape Town has prompted the Institute to replicate the initiative in Port Elizabeth.
Through SAICA, South Africa's accounting profession has long been quietly but determinedly involved in several corporate social investment (CSI) projects, among them The Hope Factory, from which SAICA members are encouraged to buy crafts produced by the learners in the project, thus providing sustainability and creating more jobs for those who have graduated from the project.
The Hope Factory has been instrumental in providing opportunities for the unemployed to become financially productive and to gain practical work experience. Thus far, 120 trainees have benefited from The Hope Factory's Western Cape programme, with an additional 114 expected to benefit from The Hope Factory's job and wealth creation efforts by the end of 2005.
In the past three years, The Hope Factory has played an important role in the Western Cape in establishing young men and women as independent and successful corporate gift producers and entrepreneurs.
Ignatius Sehoole, SAICA's executive president, stresses that the vision of The Hope Factory is to develop, empower and inspire previously disadvantaged South Africans to become self-reliant and productive. He says that the Port Elizabeth launch will enable SAICA to showcase its projects, in the process highlighting its contribution to nation building through education and the empowerment of individuals.
Through SAICA, the accounting profession supports The Hope Factory by purchasing and providing a market for its corporate gifts and conferencing materials that are manufactured in the Job Creation project. The Hope Factory is also supported by various individuals, church bodies and corporations. Its centre in Port Elizabeth is funded by the Department of Labour.
The Hope Factory has been running successfully since 2001. Looking ahead, Sehoole says that SAICA aims to expand and establish The Hope Factory centres throughout South Africa to equip and empower the previously disadvantaged.
“The launch will not just create awareness around SAICA's CSI projects but will show that the accounting profession leads by example,” says Sehoole.
