{"id":16954,"date":"2012-12-01T03:45:15","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T01:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/lovelife-works-when-powered-by-business\/"},"modified":"2012-12-01T03:45:15","modified_gmt":"2012-12-01T01:45:15","slug":"lovelife-works-when-powered-by-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/lovelife-works-when-powered-by-business\/","title":{"rendered":"LoveLife works when powered by business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

From personal experience: Back in the day when LoveLife was starting out they formed a strategic partnership with the ABYC where we trained some of their Groundbreakers to teach kids taking part in the LoveLife program to sail. Each one of the Groundbreakers was snapped up by club members at the end of their one year internship at the yacht club and three of them are still in the same employ some 5 years after the cessation of the program.<\/p>\n

Unveiling the R20-million Volkswagen Group<\/a> South Africa (VWSA) loveLife Youth Centre in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage today, Managing Director David Powels said it was his hope that the centre would radically transform the lives of the youth who embrace it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that this centre will have a profound ripple effect on the lives of young people in Uitenhage and the surrounding areas,\u201d Powels said to the attending dignitaries and community members.<\/p>\n

The centre, which has been under construction for eight months, is the second of its kind for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and the first for Uitenhage. It is funded by a joint Volkswagen AG and IG Metal donation and will be managed by the loveLife Trust.<\/p>\n

Powels said the KwaNobuhle loveLife Y-Centre, which opened to coincide with World Aids Day on 1st December, was an invaluable asset to the community.<\/p>\n

The aim of the centre is to give the young people of KwaNobuhle and the greater Uitenhage area a safe haven where they can play sport and interact with their peers and adults, thereby developing long term supportive relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe centre is set to impact over 20 000 youths annually, with a youth-friendly clinic offering specialised HIV and Aids advice, counseling and support services for teens and parents. It will also provide outreach programmes to 20 schools in the area,\u201d said Nonkqubela Maliza, Director of Corporate and Government Affairs at Volkswagen Group<\/a> South Africa.
\nLoveLife works when powered by business
\n\u201cThe centre is equipped with computers, indoor \u2018chill areas\u2019 and sports facilities for teens, as well as a loveLife-managed clinic where they can speak to counsellors about HIV and Aids,\u201d added Maliza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2010, the members of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management visited our company in Uitenhage while attending the Soccer World Cup. In the spirit of the World Cup, they made a legacy donation of R20-million to be used for the construction of this loveLife Y-Centre,\u201d said Powels.<\/p>\n

The R20-million investment covers the construction of the centre and its running costs for the next four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a long and proud history of CSI involvement that was formalised in 1988 with the formation of the Community Trust, which was ground breaking at the time.\u00a0 This opened up a partnership between the company, unions, community leaders and company trustees who jointly decide how and where the social investments should be made as opposed to the company deciding on its own,\u201d said Powels.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince then our approach and focus has evolved into a strong corporate CSI strategy that now houses six key focus areas \u2013 Education, Youth Development, Enterprise Development, Health Community and well-being, Environment and Employee Volunteerism,\u201d said Powels.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur latest project focusses on youth development and the importance of this in our communities cannot be underestimated. The youth need proper guidance when it comes to issues like HIV and Aids, and the centre will offer just that,\u201d said Maliza.<\/p>\n

As with other Y-Centres around the country, peer educators, known as Ground Breakers, will be trained from within the communities to speak at schools and publicly about issues such as sex and relationships.<\/p>\n

Community leader Themba Kani, who was appointed as the manager of the Y-Centre earlier this year, said the centre would have a positive influence on the youth in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe that the centre will give our young people a positive vision for the future. The lack of HIV\/Aids information is a major problem in the area and I believe that we can educate and empower the youth to change their lives for the better,\u201d said Kani.<\/p>\n

\"Babalwa<\/a>
\nBabalwa Queenete Kona who presented a stirring and emotional poem, “I am and African” to much applause and acclaim.<\/span>
\n\"Zanoxolo<\/a>
\nZanoxolo Wayile (Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro), Grace Mathlape (CEO: loveLife) and David Powels (Managing Director: Volkswagen Group South Africa)<\/span>
\n\"Sicelo<\/a>
\nSicelo Gqobana (MEC of Health, Eastern Cape) who said that the Health strike will end on 2 December 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From personal experience: Back in the day when LoveLife was starting out they formed a strategic partnership with the ABYC where we trained some of their Groundbreakers to teach kids taking part in the LoveLife program to sail. Each one of the Groundbreakers was snapped up by club members at the end of their one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1289,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-16954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mype","8":"tag-port-elizabeth-2","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}