The Garden Route Children’s Trust, or GRCT for short, is a UK-based charity. The aim of the GRCT is to alleviate poverty amongst children in South Africa through the provision of food and education. Nourishing the bodies and minds of children in need gives them a good, healthy foundation on which to build, and helps them to learn to look after themselves and their families.
Knysna
The e’Pap Children’s Feeding Project, run by Shelley and Peter Godsell, is the original project the GRCT was set up to help and it remains our biggest beneficiary. 6,500 children are fed each school day in Knysna, Sedgefield, Plettenberg Bay and George and we fund the e’Pap for just under 3,000 of these children.
Port Elizabeth
The GRCT Project Association team in Port Elizabeth manage the funding of e’Pap feeding to 880 children across a range of mainly pre-schools, as well as the larger Missionvale Care Centre primary school. In addition, there are 60 children who receive sandwiches and juice at the Missionvale after school club.
Cape Town
Through the local Rotary Club we feed between 700 and 800 children a day at pre-schools in Hout Bay. In separate projects, we also fund the feeding of 80 children in a pre-school in Gugulethu, 200 in Ocean View and 80 in Somerset West.
Kleinmond
225 children are fed at a number of pre-schools. This is overseen by Alta van Wyk, a local school principal.
Wellington
We partner with Ma’s-vir-Wellington, a non-profit organisation which serves one of the very poor communities in this area. Through the pre-school which they run, 126 children get a daily e’Pap breakfast.
St Francis Bay
The Rotary Club has established e’Pap feeding at pre-schools and creches across a large area, including St Francis Bay, Storms River Village, Blouleliesbos, Coldstream, Hankey, Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp and Sea Vista – 450 children in all.
Despatch
(20 Km from Port Elizabeth)
200 children are being fed in a township on the outskirts of the town. A local resident, Jacky Daniels, works closely with one of the local churches, feeds the children from her home. The church oversees the feeding project.
Addo
(100 km from Port Elizabeth)
At the Place of Mercy and Hope pre-school near Addo, an area of high unemployment, 240 children benefit from an e’Pap breakfast.