ANNUAL REPORT 2021
We have been deeply challenged again by the year 2021, another year of uncertainty in the midst of the global COVID pandemic. Whilst South Africa, compared to other countries, has done relatively well in the specific impact of COVID itself through various lockdowns, we still have seen many people losing their loved ones. Families have been profoundly impacted – psychologically and economically – all around us.
In this annual report you will read stories of impact in each of the areas of work: From the strong results of our Collaboration Schools programme, to Sikunye, our Early Life programme, achieving nationwide impact using the muscle of hundreds of well–placed churches all over the country, to stories of hope and dignity being restored through the The Zanokhanyo Network, our Employment programme.
2021 HIGHLIGHTS
- Sikunye, our Early Life Programme, launched a national Community Mobilisers’ project, which saw us exceed our annual goals for 2021 with a rapid influx of churches across the country attending Church & Early Life (our flagship event) and subsequently committing their churches to becoming First Thousand Day friendly. Another highlight was the depth of engagement that we saw throughout the year, made possible by reduced barriers to entry. Zoom support, data offerings, and the translation of key materials into isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans all helped to deepen the connection with the challenge and opportunity of the First Thousand Days.
- Our Education Team, within the Collaboration Schools framework, worked tirelessly to make the schools in which we operate centres of educational excellence. We supported principals, teachers, and governing bodies in each partner school to ensure that all children received an excellent learning experience that launched them on a path to opportunity. While we grappled with rotational learning and closures that impacted our primary schools heavily, we were excited to see our theory of change in action at our high school, Silikamva High, where the matric pass rate increased from 60%, to 85%! Finally, we put in place the next steps towards the expansion of this programme to new schools in 2022, entrenching our work more deeply in the communities we serve.
- Our Employment Programme, The Zanokhanyo Network, was able to refine the programme offering in 2021, with a view to facilitating the expansion of our initiative provincially, through our replication strategy, and relevant partnerships. Internally, we launched a new curriculum (piloted at the end of 2020), pioneered new graduate support event offerings, provided extended support to graduates through our contracted psychologist, and refined our workshop offering with consolidated and extended computer training. Through our offering which encompasses the Work Readiness course, counselling, workshops, and graduate support, those previously unemployed are being equipped with the hard skills they need to succeed in the workplace and the confidence, support, and soft skills they need to get there.
- For our Congregational Support Team, it was a challenging year supporting churches without many in-person meetings, and yet the Justice Ministry Teams within those churches had some incredible wins in serving the marginalised in their neighbourhoods. Internally, the year afforded us the opportunity to review our congregational support vision of inspiring, mobilising, and equipping church communities to engage with and respond to injustice. To achieve this vision, we are refining our strategy to facilitate partnerships between Common Good and local churches, where Common Good provides these churches with thought leadership and equips them in their context in the area of justice.
Please download the report to read more about each of our programmes, and what they achieved, hear from some of our beneficiaries, and celebrate stories of transformation.
Previous Years
2020 Annual Report | 2019 Annual Report | 2018 Annual Report | 2017 Annual Report
