Medipost Holdings
Media release
Early childhood development centre gets a boost from Medipost
Thursday, 7 February 2019, Just over a decade since its inception, the first class of children to have attended the Kungwini Welfare Organisation’s Early Childhood Development Centre in Zwavelpoort, East of Pretoria, are preparing for their final years of high school. Now, after more than a decade of providing a school readiness service to children of the surrounding community, the centre is looking forward to expanding its capacity in 2019 thanks to the corporate social investment received from Medipost and other partners.
“The benefits of childhood development for improving the socio-economic conditions of individuals in later life and making a positive difference to the community as a whole over the longer term are well established,” says Rentia Myburgh, Medipost’s director for sales and marketing.
“We see great potential for achieving these goals in the school readiness programme provided through the Kungwini Early Childhood Development Centre, which serves the children and community of Zwavelpoort.”
Early childhood development is recognised by the World Health Organization as a key social determinant of the child’s future health, particularly where learning is supported with good nutrition, as is the case at Kungwini Early Childhood Development Centre, which provides meals and snacks as part of its school readiness programme for children aged between one and six years.
“Promotion of education and health has always been important to Medipost, as we believe these are the pillars of a more equal and prosperous society. When we have the opportunity to support non-profit organisations through our corporate social investment initiatives, we therefore prioritise projects that are making a contribution towards the lives of community members through health and education,” Myburgh adds.
“With hundreds of children from the Zwavelpoort community having had the advantage of attending this Early Childhood Development Centre over the years, Medipost wanted to help support the worthy work of Kungwini. We are delighted that our donation will assist the Early Childhood Development Centre to expand its programme to touch the lives of more children and make an even greater contribution to this vibrant community.”
According to Karin Berriman marketing manager for Kungwini Welfare Organisation, which runs the Early Childhood Development Centre, Medipost’s donation contributed towards the building of two new classrooms, which will meaningfully extend the centre’s capacity.
“We are very grateful to all of the organisations, including Medipost, that have donated funds and services towards our early childhood development programme in Zwavelpoort,” Berriman says.
“Previously we were able to provide 30 children with access to the school readiness programme, and from this year onwards we will be able to accommodate an additional 20 pupils. The impact of our partners’ corporate social investment in the Early Childhood Development Centre is tremendous and will benefit the community immediately.
“The full effect of these donations, however, will only truly be revealed once the children of today are grown up and making their own contributions to society,” she adds.
“On behalf of Kungwini Early Childhood Development Centre, and all the children who will benefit from the new classrooms this year and in the future, we are so grateful to Medipost for their contribution. Together, we are helping to lay a solid foundation for the future of the children,” Berriman concludes.
Ends
Reference and further reading:
World Health Organization10 facts about early child development as a social determinant of health. Accessed on 29 January 2019, available at https://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/topics/child/development/10facts/en/
Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of Medipost Holdings
Contact: Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney, Meggan Saville and Estene Lotriet-Vorster
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: martina@mnapr.co.za, graeme@mnapr.co.za, meggan@mnapr.co.zaor estene@mnapr.co.za