As Chairman of the Bitou Community Foundation Trust, it has been five years since I first wrote a report. In that time, there has been a lot of change and turmoil in the world. Many of us have lost loved ones and have had to grieve alone. Through this, we’ve all had the chance to think about what’s truly important to us, what we care about, and what we’re grateful for.

Charities have been hit hard by the pandemic, which has added to the struggles they were already facing. Donors have also had to deal with a huge demand for support, while making difficult decisions about how to divide their resources. Despite this, we’ve seen the generosity of the human spirit shine through.

The Bitou Trust, PlettAid Foundation, and the Robberg Coastal Corridor Protected Environment (RCCPE) have also faced their own challenges. Demand for their services was unprecedented, but I’m proud to say that their leadership and staff have risen to the occasion. They’ve managed to not only continue their day-to-day work but also expand it within the Bitou community. These organizations have taught us a lot about caring for ourselves, each other, and the places where we live.

I am grateful for the support of all of you, our donors, who made this work possible. How wonderful to think our efforts could provide such support and impact during such a difficult time.

We’ve been quiet since our 2019 report, but we’re excited to share some of the highlights from the past few years. In the report, you’ll find updates from the CEO of each of our beneficiary organizations. We hope this gives you a sense of their achievements and challenges and what they plan to accomplish in 2023. Our commitment to them remains strong and we will do our best to support them as they work to strengthen the infrastructure and support that’s so important to the Bitou community.

Both PlettAid and the RCCPE are focused on developing the community’s ability to take care of themselves, each other, and the environment. They are working to train and educate local people for key roles in areas like healthcare and environmental stewardship. They’re also working to build the community’s capacity and preserve the natural beauty of the area.

A nationwide shortage of nurses, critical for their home-based care program, has seen PlettAid commit significant resources to training and growing a team of healthcare workers from the community. This supports both the expansion of the Community Health and Wellness initiative and the hospice care for those facing end of life. An important and growing part of this programme has been the “First 1,000 days” care programme for infants with over 464 infants and 1282 young children coming into care in 2022.

The Robberg Coastal Corridor Protected Environment Project (RCCPE) was in its formation stage when the Bitou Trust was established in 2017. Formed to support the unique ecology of this biodiversity hotspot, RCCPE’s work over the last three years has almost entirely thanks to the Bitou Trust with funds raised in 2018 and 2019 securing both our Conservation Manager and his team who have done an excellent job on restoring, protecting and engaging the community in this work. We remain inspired and committed to finding ways to ensure that the communities of Bitou can continue to benefit from this natural capital and the benefits it confers for the region.

The next few years are definitely going to be tough for everyone, most especially for the communities we serve. The cost-of-living crisis, the energy crisis globally as well as the significant energy crisis in South Africa, the knock-on global effects of the Ukraine war and the migration of refugees – whether from war or climate disasters – are placing significant strain everywhere in the world. For people already living on the edge of poverty, these will be potentially devastating stressors that will, once again, call forth all our resilience and fortitude to withstand and overcome.

I believe both our beneficiaries, the PlettAid Foundation and Robberg Coastal Corridor are well positioned to respond to the ongoing needs of our times and to expand their work to build on their visions for change and impact beyond the crisis of the pandemic. I would like to thank you all, dear friends and supporters, for the gifts and support you have given us and the potential you helped make real in this time. It has been immensely appreciated by me and by all who have been touched by your kindness and generosity. My sincere thanks also to the Bitou Trust team in the UK for helping with the continuation of the Trust’s activities. Most especially, I would like to thank Zofia Sochanik who has played such an important role in our early years and has so diligently maintained the administrative and governance requirements of the Trust during the pandemic, even while looking after two young children, moving homes and taking on a new full-time role. We wish her well with her move and look forward to staying in touch. Thanks also to my fellow trustees on the Board who have been unfailing in their efforts to support and build what we have begun. I look forward to our continued journey.

As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said in his 1978 Harvard Commencement Address, “a world split apart will demand from us a spiritual blaze … we shall have to rise to a new height of vision, to a new level of life”. All over the world, responses to the covid pandemic could perhaps be understood as the beginning of this rise in the height of our vision, in the level of our care. We have collectively recognised the extend of our interconnectedness, our interdependence on each other and our reliance on the kindness and compassion of our communities. In striving to build connected, compassionate and caring communities, we hope you will continue to walk this path with us.

Thank you.

Lady Conyngham
Chairman

View our Annual Report