“To date we have had seven learners doing their community service with us through participation in a very simple, yet effective programme, benefitting all parties,” explains Sonia Thomson, HR Manager at Stepping Stone Hospice.

“Their first day with us is an orientation and working in our charity shops where they assist the staff with the unpacking and sorting of donated items,” Sonia says.

The balance of the required hours are then made up through the generation of second hand items for the charity shop through their own network of friends and family. These items must be documented and reconciled with what was promised.

“All of this is done under the strict supervision of the retail supervisor and the retail manager,” Sonia says. “On completion of their hours, we then sign off documentation for their project and hopefully the learners also walk away with a better knowledge and understanding of our organization,” Sonia concludes.

For further information on this project, kindly email Sonia on sonia@steppingstonehospice.co.za

Caption: Two Grd 11 learners from Leeuwenhof Akademie, Jared Steyn and Henning Redelinghuys doing their community hours in our charity shop. With them: Chris Nel (retail supervisor), Brenda Peach (retail manager) and Sonia Thomson (HR Manager).