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Renovations and more for Hillfox schools

Simon Masango, art teacher and chairperson of Phakamani Primary school's governing body, was particularly pleased to hear that the school was selected as one of the lucky winners of the Cashbuild Art-at-Heart competition. Along with seven other schools in the Hillfox area, Phakamani Primary School received Cashbuild building material vouchers to the value of R12 000 when the Cashbuild Hillfox store officially opened its doors on 27 October 2011.

"We want to extend our administrative block and build an extra room for the staff members to perform their administrative duties in," said Masango. "We want to build a room for reception as well, so for the next few months there's lots of construction work to do."

Thandi Masilela, Deputy Principal of Thathezakho Primary said: "The school is very dilapidated, a few classroom floors have holes and this is a huge safety hazard for our learners or anyone who comes into the room. So, we plan to put in plastic tiles, repaint and do an overall renovation job on these classrooms."

"The main gate needs a supporting wall, because it is too heavy," said Ramontheng Matshitse, Deputy Principal of DSJ Primary. "It is currently joined to a pole, which is not strong enough to hold it up. This is a priority for the school because it's a safety hazard for both learners and staff members, since it is unstable and often falls over. We also plan to buy 18 doors for our bathroom toilets. This voucher has been a real blessing to our school, thank you so much Cashbuild!"

At the official Cashbuild store opening ceremony on 27 October, when the building material vouchers totaling R96 000 were presented to all eight schools, the children showed their appreciation by entertaining everyone with singing, cultural dances and theatrical performances.

The Cashbuild Art-at-Heart competition entails learners from each school submitting their best artwork to Cashbuild. This artwork is displayed at the Hillfox ceremony, and then remains on display in the Cashbuild store for the next five years.

Artwork was judged and three winners from each school were named. The winning children received Cashbuild Art-at-Heart gold, silver and bronze certificates for first, second and third place respectively. The Manager's Choice award was also presented to the lucky winner of the artwork competition. This award was announced on the day – Katlego Pate from Boikanyo Primary School received a stationery pack and a glass trophy.

The schools that benefited from the Cashbuild Art-at-Heart donations and the children that received the certificates are:

Since the Art-at-Heart campaign was launched ten years ago, Cashbuild has helped more than 1 200 schools with over R12-million worth of building materials.

Cashbuild is BEE compliant and every time a store is opened, relocated or refurbished, Cashbuild not only makes donations to local schools, but also creates jobs for community members.

The Art-at-Heart competition is a southern African Cashbuild initiative whereby donations are made to some of the region's most needy schools.



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