Our social impact

The Old Mutual Foundation

A summary of Old Mutual Foundation investments

The past year was the second year in the Old Mutual Foundation's three-year medium-term strategy. The Foundation successfully invested its full R20 million budget in three long-term flagship projects, two new initiatives, and a programme of more general donations. The table below summarises the investments.

From 2006 the Old Mutual Foundation will assume management of the high-profile annual Sowetan/Old Mutual/SABC Community Builder of the Year Awards from the Old Mutual Sponsorship team which has successfully placed the event at the forefront of the national calendar of developmental events.

An overall summary of Old Mutual Foundation activities:

The Foundation team aims to add value to communities through a concerted focus on sustainable development, AIDS orphans, and education. In addition staff have been encouraged to participate in volunteer activities through long-standing internal initiatives, such as the Staff Community Builder Programme (as distinct from the above-mentioned community builder award), the “Adopt” an Orphan initiative, and the Staff Charity Fund.

A quick summary of the Old Mutual Foundation’s investments

Led by the Old Mutual Foundation (members pictured right), the company has a long history of community involvement, including education where support is given to teaching mathematics, science and environmental issues. A school in Gugulethu is one beneficiary (left).

The Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) network has grown both in the number of champions who act as catalysts to initiate projects in their areas, and in the number of communities affected. Some excellent new businesses (mostly rural) have been supported and a number of food security programmes implemented, enabling communities to begin to address other developmental issues around them.

More and more orphans are being identified and included in the AIDS orphans programmes in partnership with Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity (NOAH), Heartbeat and, more recently, Children of the Dawn (previously a small initiative within REDI).

The new initiatives piloted by the Foundation last year (and described in the 2004 Corporate Citizenship Report) are beginning to demonstrate their worth. Through the “Product 2 Market” initiative, for instance, numerous people have been trained in organic farming and they are now being assisted to access genuine fresh produce markets. The result is an income – in several cases for the first time – for some families. Also, 18 master craftsmen came to Cape Town to receive six weeks of intensive training in product development, marketing and sales skills during 2005. They returned to their communities to share their learnings and will provide products for the “Product 2 Market” initiative in Darling Street in central Cape Town starting in 2006.

The “Out of the Box” schools environmental education programme already has 116 institutions using the provided resources. The SABC has shown an interest in including some lesson plans designed for use in school classrooms in their “Beyond the Classroom” programme on SABC2 and has already filmed one such lesson.

The Old Mutual Foundation’s investments – by province

Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI)

REDI serves 20 communities through its focus on creating local economic development opportunities and providing holistic community development/support initiatives. These initiatives range from providing capital to start-up and existing micro-enterprises, to facilitating the renewal of school facilities, and providing support for AIDS orphans.

The initiative is financially sound and therefore well positioned to continue making a difference to communities on a sustainable basis. REDI has successfully met its fiduciary responsibilities and is a benchmark for similar agencies.

In 2006, a final amount of R2.8 million will be allocated to the REDI network. Thereafter the Old Mutual Foundation will work with the network to fund specific sustainable development and/or welfare projects undertaken by the network.

The AIDS Orphans Programme

The programme continues to expand. The Old Mutual Foundation now supports orphan programmes in seven provinces: Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo. A total of 16 671 children are currently supported through these projects, either directly or indirectly, through partnerships with NOAH, Heartbeat, Children of the Dawn, Uthando, Helping Hands, and others.

Four Heartbeat projects, Pieter Swart and Botshabelo in the Free State, and Katlehong and Tembisa in Gauteng, receive financial support to provide 1 636 children with training and mentorship, after-school care, food, parenting, homework assistance and support groups.

Through NOAH, the Foundation directly or indirectly supports 14 200 children through 22 resource centres.

The Children of the Dawn project operates in Mpumalanga and Limpopo and through the REDI network of champions, enabling the Foundation to support 144 children. A sponsorship of R300 000 will allow Children of the Dawn to commit to full-time service delivery from next year onwards and therefore expand its existing activities within the REDI network.

Uthando, in the deep rural area of Keiskammashoek in the Eastern Cape, cares for 91 vulnerable children, 11 of which head households.

Helping Hands in the North West is a daily feeding scheme that is run in six villages, feeding a minimum of 600 disadvantaged and orphaned children. Helping Hands also assists the community by providing a centre where children can stay after school and where volunteers assist with homework and various income-generating activities.

The Staff Volunteer Programme

The programme is designed to provide resources and donations to initiatives in which Old Mutual (SA) staff members are involved as volunteers. During 2005, a total of 106 projects were approved via the Staff Community Builder Programme, resulting in an amount of R1 806 250 being allocated to the community through the work of volunteers.

Group Schemes again proved to be the business unit most active in promoting staff volunteerism, followed by the Personal Financial Advice (PFA) unit.

Staff members can also elect to make donations from their monthly salaries, and have these deductions made payable to organisations supporting abused children, HIV/AIDS, the elderly, and/or animal welfare. These deductions are matched rand-for-rand by the Foundation. The tables below summarise the “Adopt” an Orphan and the Staff Charity Fund initiatives.

A summary of the “Adopt” an Orphan initiative Number of staff participating: Number of orphans “adopted”: Total amount pledged per month (before matching): Average contribution per staff member: Orphans receiving tertiary education support

A total of 20 organisations were supported through the Staff Charity Fund this year, with R374 121 being distributed.

Since the inception of these volunteerism programmes in August 2002, Old Mutual (SA) staff had donated just over R2.0 million by end March 2006, matched rand-for-rand by the Foundation creating a gross investment of R4.0 million.

An Old Mutual (SA) staff member signing up for one of the staff volunteerism initiatives managed by the Foundation. On the right, volunteerism in action, where Old Mutual staff have built homes in townships.

A summary of the "Adopt" an Orphan initiative

A summary of the Staff Charity Fund

A breakdown of Old Mutual Staff Community Builder investments by province

General donations

The Foundation has worked with the Department of Education to assist in overcoming various educational obstacles, largely through funding, and curriculum and teacher development.

In 2005, community development donations were made to hospices and hospitals, welfare organisations, and a further 38 projects operating in the areas of skills development, providing food security and equipment for income generation.

In total, 15 projects received funding from the general ad hoc fund totalling R0.6 million, whilst three projects totalling R0.2 million were funded out of the Chairman’s and Managing Director’s fund. Substantial donations were made to the Tsunami disaster, the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, the SA Youth Ministers project, and to the Transnet Foundation’s Phelophepa Health Train.

New initiatives

The “Out of the Box” environmental education programme piloted in 2004 in 20 schools in Gauteng is now being implemented in 116 primary schools in four provinces: Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape. There are 750 teachers on the programme, impacting on some 25 000 learners. Each teacher on the programme has received a resource kit designed to enable teaching across subjects with environmental education at the core. The programme was designed with grades 4 – 6 (intermediate phase) in mind, however in most schools both senior and foundation educators attend the workshops.

Four service providers assist the Old Mutual Foundation in delivering the programme to schools. They are ECO Schools, the Maths Centre, the Primary Science Programme, and the Schools Development Unit (SDU).

The “Product 2 Market” project was developed in partnership with the Cape Craft Design Institute (CCDI) to facilitate sustainable development with special reference to black economic empowerment. A budget of R2.0 million was allocated to this project in its first year. The project's aims are:

• to create access to markets for crafters;
   
• to encourage economic growth and empowerment;
   
• to offer ongoing training and development; and
   
• to exhibit crafts and products.

The small-scale farming project, in partnership with Organic Farms Group (OFG), began in 2005 with projects established in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Western Cape, Gauteng, and Free State. Numerous training programmes have been undertaken with excellent results and with good relationships having been built between Old Mutual (SA), the Foundation, and various government departments. Some commercial successes have already been recorded where food security projects have become financially viable.

The Foundation was rewarded for its approach to combating HIV/AIDS in communities, winning the Mail & Guardian “Investing in Life” corporate award. The coming year offers the opportunity to involve the company’s empowerment partners more closely with the Foundation’s activities, and to further integrate the Foundation’s developmental and community awareness into the main fabric of the business of Old Mutual (SA).

During December Old Mutual (SA) held a “Care and Share Week” to recognise World AIDS Day, Disability Day, 16 Days of Activism and Human Rights Day. Pictured left are Nicky Bickett (back) and other Mutualites who hosted under-privileged children on Greenland Magic Day, also part of the week.

Business units and corporate social investment

While the Old Mutual Foundation is the principal corporate social investment practitioner in the group, various business units have long-standing community relationships of their own, and have developed strong track records for community giving.

The table below summarises the corporate social investments made by Old Mutual (SA)’s business units.

CSI spend by Old Mutual (SA) business units

Sponsorships

Old Mutual (SA) continued its sponsorship of some of the most popular sports events in the country, principally in road running. The flagship road-running sponsorships are the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, a 56-kilometre run through the Cape Peninsula, and the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon. The former regularly attracts entries from over 30 000 athletes and is widely regarded as the best ultra-marathon in the world. It has become a tourist attraction and generates revenue for the Western Cape fiscus. Similarly, the Soweto Marathon has become a stimulus for the local economy.

The Old Mutual Soccer Academy seeks to identify and develop soccer skills among the young. It is expected that this type of initiative will become particularly prominent ahead of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup.

The other major development investments (with budgets in brackets) are the National Choir Festival (R3.7 million), the Community Builder of the Year event (R3.5 million), hosted together with the SABC and the Sowetan newspaper, and the Nedbank/Old Mutual National Budget Speech Competition (R0.4 million).

Two of Old Mutual (SA)’s highest-profile sponsorships are the Budget Speech Competition (left) and the Soweto Marathon (right).    The former is intended to stimulate economic debate among students while the latter is a key athletics development programme.

Investing in society

Transforming the Old Mutual (SA) workplace