Jack Cheetham

Winner

Fight with Insight

Fight with Insight was established in 2006 as an open access boxing gym – free to anyone who wants to participate – with the vison of creating a safe place for the children of Johannesburg, with a particular focus on the boy child. Through positive role modelling, discipline and social services, the programme aims to reclaim manhood, where the boys take responsibility for not harming themselves or others and to break the cycle of violence. Fight with Insight works with over 300 children who are from single-parent families with little to no income and who are exposed to crime, drugs, gangs and ongoing violence. The Fight with Insight approach provides a life skills programme to all children who attend the gym as well as mentorship to access opportunities in education and employment. Children who present with behavioural issues receive further support interventions. The club has 55 amateur boxers who regularly compete in provincial, national and international tournaments.

1^st Runner Up

Amandla Safe-Hub

Amandla is an international social enterprise established in South Africa in 2007. The Safe-Hub project is designed to disrupt cycles of poverty, unemployment and inequality in disadvantaged communities. Each centre targets “at risk” youth affected by crime, violence and destitute socioeconomic circumstances. A Safe-Hub is a world-class facility that provides a physically and emotionally safe space for young people to access services, opportunities and support from strong role models through a soccer-based after-school programme that focuses on health, safety, education and employability. Each Safe-Hub includes an artificial turf sports field connected to a youth centre including a job information centre, personal development and work-readiness training academy, psychosocial support centre and commercial spaces for young entrepreneurs. Safe-Hub also implements a developmentally appropriate life-skills-based soccer curriculum for young people. There are currently three Safe-Hubs across South African townships with another 12 becoming operational by 2021.

2^nd Runner Up

CoolPlay

CoolPlay was founded in 2010 and uses rugby and netball as a vehicle to teach life skills to young people in disadvantaged communities. The CoolPlay ethos is focused on six key social and emotional components enabling participants to successfully navigate their environment and the challenges they face in their community, at home and at school. The programme has three components: Social emotional learning, cognitive motor skills, and team skills. CoolPlay currently works with Grade 4 to Grade 12 learners across 43 no or low fee schools across the Western Cape and into the Eastern Cape. Participants who show a keen interest and promise in rugby or netball are encouraged to attend trials and in 2019 four female rugby players from Khayelitsha were selected to represent the Western Province.