By Lone Lourens | Marketing and Fundraising Manager
The last seven months have been some of the most challenging that Woodside has ever faced; however, through all of the difficulties that we have had to overcome, we are more determined than ever to ensure that Woodside remains open and is able to provide our services to those in need for many years to come.
DEVASTATING NEWS AND OUR SAVE OUR SANCTUARY CAMPAIGN
On the 13th of October, Woodside received the devastating news from our auditors that Woodside’s liquidity had become a problem and that we were facing no longer being a going concern and the very real possibility of needing to close our doors. Woodside's management and fundraising team decided to put together a campaign to help bring in the desperately needed funding, and we worked extremely hard reaching out to our community and donors for assistance.
We are beyond grateful for the incredible outpouring of support that we have received, and thanks to this exceptional answer to our call, we have managed to achieve some notable successes. Since October 2023, we have managed to bring in about R2.3 million and are once again a going concern, but we are by no means out of the woods yet, as we still need to raise another R1.3 million as it stands today.
We are so please with the progress that has been made that we will be chnaging our Save Our Sanctuary campaign to a Sustain Our Sanctuary campaign, and we will continue to impliment all that has been learned since October to help ensure that our fundraising endeadours are successful.
FUNDRAISING EVENTS
We have had two big fundraising events this year, and we are hoping to have more throughout the year in order to further raise awareness for Woodside and our cause.
Padel Day event, hosted by Padel Extreme (date: January 27, 2024)
This was a Padel tournament where Padel players from across Johanneburg could take part in the event in support of Woodside. This event was able to bring in R17 700 and helped introduce Woodside to new potential donors.
Charity quiz event, hosted by the Irish Rock. (Date: March 3, 2024)
This charity quiz took place at the Irish Rock in Radiokop. There was a great deal of enthusiasm shown by all those who participated, and we brought in R10 740 for the event, including donations made by family members who didn’t take part but wanted to contribute. We also managed to get prizes sponsored by 13 donors, which was a great draw for the event.
SUSTAINABILITY
We have realised that one of our biggest current expenses is our electrical bill. For context, we spend between R80 000 and R180 000 per month on electricity, which will only continue to increase as the tariffs are raised. (The higher costs are incurred in the winter months.) In our efforts to find avenues for making Woodside more sustainable, we are looking at solar energy. The best of the quotes that we have received to date show that it would cost around R3.5 million to go off-grid completely. We have already approached a number of donors with appeals in this regard. If Woodside was able to go fully off-grid, it would save us around R1.5 million per year, which would significantly reduce our fundraising deficit.
EGOLI GAS GOLF DAY DINNER
Woodside was selected as one of the beneficiaries of the Egoli Gas Golf Day on October 14, 2023. Woodside attended the event, and we received a wonderful donation from Egoli Gas and the Reatile Foundation to be used as needed. We are very grateful to Egoli Gas and the Reatile Foundation for selecting us as one of their beneficiaries and for their wonderful support.
ROCK SLIDE
Woodside is situated very close to a sheer rock face at the back of our property. From time-to-time, pieces of rock fall off of this rocky embankment due to erosion and weather. On January 17, 2024, we experienced the biggest rock slide that has occurred to date.
We are trying to locate someone who can come in and advise us on the situation, as we are greatly concerned that the falling rocks could eventually lead to injury or damage to our buildings. We have been advised to speak to a civil engineer and are attempting to find one who would be willing to assist us.
VISIT FROM THE REATILE FOUNDATION
On Monday, February 26th, we were contacted by a representative from the Reatile Foundation. Reatile assisted us previously with structural issues of our physiotherapy department’s roof, new gutters, fixing ceiling boards, and a new industrial washing machine in 2018. The Reatile Foundation has previously assisted us in collaboration with Egoli Gas; however, they are now reaching out to us of their own accord to ask if Woodside had any major maintenance issues that we needed assistance with. The representative then came through to Woodside on the same day and brought three contractors with her to provide estimates of the costs for our repair needs.
We showed them the rock slide, which they were extremely concerned about. They seemed very keen to assist, and the contractors had some ideas of how this could be done. Sadly, once quotations for these repairs were sourced, the costs that would be involved were determined to be more than R1 million and not within the Foundation’s budget. Next, we showed them the badly deteriorating wooden window frames, broken gutters, and areas in need of paint in the older Herbert Baker part of the building.
We received notification from the Reatile Foundation on the 15th of April that they had been selected to assist Woodside with the repairs and maintenance needed to our older building. We are now waiting to hear when the project will begin.
FUN TIMES FOR OUR RESIDENTS
Even though we have been facing some challenging times at Woodside, we will always ensure that the well-being of our residents comes first, so we have continued to have special activity days just for them.
On February 14, we had a special Valentine's Day function with activities and snacks for our residents, and on March 28, we had a wonderfully egg-citing Easter celebration for our residents. We received some amazing Easter donations from our supporters, and those in our care got some yummy Easter eggs as a treat. These days are so special and so enjoyed by our angels, and we are so grateful to our supporters for helping to make this possible.
IN CLOSING
The past few months have been incredibly stressful and challenging. We have had to relook at how we do everything and have become more active in finding leads and submitting applications. We have had some great successes, but they have not come easy. There is still a long fight ahead of us, but if we keep doing what we are doing, if we keep pushing, I know that we will be successful.
Our primary focus continues and will always be the provision of exceptional full-time care to all of our 83 profoundly intellectually disabled residents, 23 of whom are either orphaned or have no means of financial support (our Angels). The adults and children in our care require lifelong assistance and will never be able to care for themselves or filter into normal society; therefore, this is an ongoing project that will require constant funding to help us ensure that all our residents receive the very best care possible. Woodside Sanctuary is a special place where passion and purposefulness come together to help ensure that those who have been placed in our care are able to grow and develop to reach their full potential.
The GlobalGiving community has helped us raise $ 12,785 (R246 002.58) towards the Woodside’s Angels project, and we simply cannot thank you enough for your incredible support and generosity. Your generous assistance has helped us to be able to continue to keep Woodside’s residents healthy and cared for by enabling us to provide food, medications, toiletries, a place of safety, holistic care, and stimulation for the 23 profoundly intellectually disabled orphans and vulnerable angels in our care.
Like many non-profit organisations, Woodside Sanctuary is greatly dependent on the kindness and generosity of our donors and supporters. It is only thanks to their kind support that we are able to uphold the highest standards of care and offer all of our residents first-rate nursing, medical, and residential care. We extend our sincere gratitude to our donors and supporters for their exceptional generosity and kindness on behalf of Woodside Sanctuary and, in particular, the angels in our care. We will always be grateful to you for all that you have done to support and help us because of your kindness and compassion, which is what keeps us going. Thank you very much!
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