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Cape Town Child Welfare, a centenary celebrated

A centenary message from our Patron

Dear Friends

Congratulations to Cape Town Child Welfare as the organization Celebrates 100 years of caring for the children of Cape Town. CTCW has wonderful track record of caring for and nurturing our children and has been the prototype for many other organizations that care for children in our country.

My dream is for our communities to become more compassionate, more caring, willing to share and take responsibility for the vulnerable. This is God’s dream for us all. Cape Town Child Welfare is bringing us closer to its realisation.

Thank you to the staff and volunteers, thank you to all the generous supporters and sponsors. I pray that this work so well begun and sustained will continue to help our children for many years to come.

God bless you

Desmond M Tutu Archbishop Emeritus

A brief history of our time

Established in 1908, this year, Cape Town Child Welfare proudly celebrates its CENTENARY. From meagre beginnings with one staff member, our organisation has grown into the second-largest child welfare organisation in South Africa,employing 150 staff and working in 95 geographic areas within the Cape Peninsula. In addition to which, we have satellite offices situated in six identified ‘hot spot’ areas, where we offer services vital for communities and vulnerable children facing the combined challenges of HIV & AIDS and poverty. These include HIV & AIDS awareness training, support groups for HIV-positive parents, job skills training to help create employment, parenting skills training for grandparents who now have to look after their grandchildren. Each year, we touch the lives of approximately 25 000 children and their carers.

In 2006, we launched our HELPKIDS ™ Hotline directed at assisting children in crisis. The national toll-free number supports the work of our Eye on the Child community-based volunteers who offer after-hours child protection services to children in crisis within their communities. When a child is at risk, our accredited volunteers are authorised to remove a child to a safe home. The location of the hotline doubles as a safe home within the Greater Athlone community

As we face the next 100 years, we are committed to serving the children within our communities and to deliver the best possible level of care, whilst we continue to develop innovate programmes that will always have the well-being of the child at heart.

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