Athlone Institute Trust wins gold
2010-05-20
“I DON’T know how much life I’ve got left, but the little I have left, I will give to better the community.” These were the words of John Martin, CEO of the Athlone Institute Trust, on Friday when he was given the privilege by Impumelelo Innovations Awards Trust to receive the Athlone Institute Trust’s 2010 Sustainability Award at his home in Paarl. Martin (73) could not attend the awards ceremony in Cape Town on 16 May due to deteriorating health. Nine years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and recently suffered a severe heart attack from which he is recovering at home. The Trust won the Gold Award of R40 000 which is the second highest award at the Impumelelo Innovations Awards Trust. Martin, a well-known figure in the Paarl community, thanked the committee of the Athlone Institute Trust and his wife Enith for their continued support. “From now on I am taking it one day at a time,” he added. Martin, who has spent his life serving the community and his profession, qualified as a teacher at the Athlone Training College and he furthered his studies in music at the Battswood Training School and the Bellville College of Education. He was later also a music lecturer at the Athlone Teacher Training College. Because of his unstinting work as a teacher he was appointed as principal of the Nieuwe Drift Primary School, where he served until his retirement. He has been and still is the church organist at the Parish of St Stephen for 58 years. He has also served as Vice President Finances of the Cape Teachers’ Professional Association, and as member of the senate of Boland College. He was a founder member of the Frank Pietersen Music Centre, a committee member of the Union of Teachers’ Associations, Chairman of the Management Committee of Ikhwezi, and the Paarl Land Claims Committee. In 1999 the Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church bestowed on him the highest church award, the Order of Simon of Cyrene, for distinguished lay service to the church and service to the community. He has received a mayoral award for community service as well as awards from the Lions and Rotary Clubs in Paarl. According to Rhoda Kadalie, Executive Director of the Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust, Martin’s willpower was an inspiration to them. “Athlone Institute Trust was awarded gold because it is an effective example of how communities can seek solutions to their own challenges. “They were awarded for not only their sterling contribution to uplifting the Paarl community, but their innovative model of delivery,” said Candice Jansen, Media Liaison Officer of Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust. The Athlone Institute Trust was one of eight Gold Award winners and one of 12 Western Cape projects who received awards out of a total of 30 initiatives from across the country. The Athlone Institute was founded in 1926 as a teachers’ training college in Paarl. After its closure in 1993, a trust was formed to encourage locally developed programmes which focus on poverty alleviation, empowering community members as well as seeking to eliminate poverty. The project has four parts: Athlone Institute Trust which awards bursaries and bursary loans to suitable candidates, a computer help centre, a domestic shelter (Athlone House of Strength) which was built by inmates from Allandale Prison (the Athlone Institute Trust and Allandale Correctional Project) which has opened a welding shop for its inmates. Many more projects are planned. The project went through Impumelelo’s almost yearlong comprehensive awards selection process. The organisation seeks to identify and reward social innovations that are providing unique and replicable solutions to South African problems. The award winners having a profound impact on their communities and offer valuable lessons that can easily be applied in facing similar challenges in South Africa. Visit www.impumelelo.org.za for more information.
More
News
|
