Making a difference on Mandela Day

PG Bison teams in Johannesburg and Cape Town were busy on Mandela Day (18 July), taking time out to volunteer and give back.

Cape Town

In Cape Town we spent Mandela Day with SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) at its centre in Table View. SANCCOB is a non-profit organisation that works to conserve Southern African seabirds and reverse the population decline of the iconic and endangered African penguin. This is done through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds.

PG Bison was invited by SANCCOB to get on board (by supplying boards!) with the new Education and Visitor Centre, which opened recently. The centre is a welcoming space where schools, visitors, corporates, volunteers/interns and the community can enjoy tours and education programmes run by SANCCOB’s Education Department. It also boasts an eye-catching souvenir shop filled with plushies and other penguin memorabilia. 

PG Bison supported the project by sponsoring the boards and joinery for the reception, education office and education room, cafeteria and kitchen. The team then spent Mandela Day with SANCCOB, volunteering through tasks like seabird food prep, laundry and cleaning. This was followed by taking a tour of the centre and seabird hospital. There was also an opportunity to watch the penguins and the chicks being fed, and to learn about the important work that SANCCOB does.

Since SANCCOB is an operational seabird hospital and rehabilitation centre, we had to keep the team small. It was however a special and meaningful day and a delight to be part of this important project. 

We hope SANCCOB’s new Education and Visitor Centre will bring more understanding of the importance of the conservation of seabirds to the community and tourists alike, as well as encourage support of SANCCOB’s work. 

“We are very appreciative of the important role that PG Bison played in making our centre functional as well as visually appealing. Their partnership with us on this project has met and exceeded all our expectations and has allowed us to present a space that we are incredibly proud of. Thank you, PG Bison!” says Melissa Knott, Head of Operations at SANCCOB.

Johannesburg

In Johannesburg, staff from PG Bison’s Boksburg head office volunteered to cook and entertain the members of Actonville Senior Citizens Club in Benoni.

The Actonville Senior Citizens Club has been in existence since 2010 and offers two main programmes to senior citizens in the community: a home-based care programme that takes care of the health needs of 93 elderly people who are frail, bedridden, or disabled; and a lunch club, also known as the Active Ageing programme for 88 elderly people who come to the centre every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for breakfast, lunch and to participate in various activities, including  aerobics, roadwork, crafts and gardening.

The PG Bison team prepared tea-time snacks and lunch, while others gave the elderly group of ladies and gents some care with pampering treatments, including manicures, back and neck massages ,haircuts and a demonstration of elderly beneficial exercises by guest speaker Palesa Conco-Xaba, Physio Therapist at Physio 360.

They also provided entertainment through a local music group that one of the staff members belongs to, which performed songs, and there were poetry recitals from other team members.

It was a cheerful day spent engaging with the active senior citizens.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude an appreciation to PG Bison for their extraordinary generosity and kindness in celebrating Mandela Day with Actonville Senior Citizens. We applaud you for being a shining example of corporate social responsibilities. We are blessed to have partners who care. Denise Francis, founding member of Actonville Senior Citizens Club.”