Cape Town - The Noluthando Sheltered Employment Trust (NSET) facility has opened at the Noluthando School for Special Needs in Khayelitsha.
The opening was made possible by funding from The Ackerman Family Educational Trust and Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages.
Thee renovated and refurbished building will provide a safe and well-equipped facility to enable sheltered employment opportunities for skilled Noluthando learners.
The Noluthando School was originally founded to provide tuition to learners with hearing impairments.
It was soon realised that while technical developments were enabling many learners to hear, the school would need specialised classroom facilities and tuition for children with autism.
In 2008 the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) special needs department approached the Rotary Club of Newlands (RCN) to design, plan, obtain funding and construct classrooms for autistic learners to support the increased demand for enrolment at this specialised institution.
Since then, 19 classrooms have been built or refurbished at the campus, including the construction of a new treatment assessment centre.
The Ackerman Family Educational Trust, Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages (CCPB) and other corporates, foundations and individuals have contributed to these projects.
The NSET project arose when Wendy Ackerman approached Rotary Club of Newlands in November last year to explore whether a sheltered employment facility could be established at Noluthando.
Support for this came from far and wide, including the headmaster of Noluthando School, Ayanda Ncinane, the school's governing body, the landowner, and the WCED.
"The Ackerman Family Educational Trust is very pleased that this project has got off the ground so quickly and the Sheltered Employment Workshop is about to officially open. We are looking forward to training these young people and we hope that in the not-too-distant future some of them will join the workforce," said Wendy Ackerman.
As part of the school's expansion, Noluthando made a large building on their grounds available for refurbishment. Construction was completed this month.
"This is third project that CCPB has supported at the Noluthando School in the past four years. This includes co-funding of the Treatment Assessment Centre in 2018 and the building of six additional classroom in 2019.
“CCPB's purpose in communities we operate in, is to make a difference that matters. We are privileged to be able to do this through our partnership with Rotary Club Newlands and humbled to be part of the legacy of the Noluthando School, filling a critical need within this community," said Priscilla Urquhart, public affairs and communications manager for CCPB.
"People with special needs often face barriers to education. Finding work once they finish their education is almost impossible. A facility with which to match the types of work that would be possible and meaningful.
"The coming together of all these different parties and the initiative of Wendy Ackerman to get 'the ball rolling' is extraordinary. In such a short time this new entity has been established with energy and commitment around the common purpose of materially improving the lives of the beneficiaries," said RCN's John Winship.