Violence against women and children is a very profound and widespread problem- especially in South Africa.
Stewarts & Lloyds as a whole (but the men of the company in particular) stand together to beat the scourge that is the abuse.
That is why, this year, we have chosen to take a real stand against GBV and raise money for the Frida Hartley Shelter (FHS) in Yeoville, Johannesburg , the National Shelter Movement of South Africa and NISAA Institute for Women’s Development.
These wonderful charities do all the groundwork and work tirelessly to save vulnerable women and their children from abusive and dangerous situations, giving them a temporary safe place to call home, empowering them and training them up for better work opportunities so they can stand on their own feet and be empowered.
Stewarts & Lloyds has a long history of serving the community when it comes to the steel, irrigation and construction sectors among others since 1903- an as a mostly male-dominated sector- we feel we need to be at the forefront of taking a stand against women and child abuse.
Starting at home, we need to foster a safe environment for our children. It’s been proven that childhood exposure to violence and trauma is linked to men’s use of violence against their partners.
Therefore, in 2022, Stewarts & Lloyds selected a female cyclist, Vicky Dockray, who was up for the challenge and has a heart for charity, to take on a 1100km ride, from Madrid to Lisbon – including 18000mt of elevation. Taking on such a monumental feat, the challenge was put forward to raise a much money as was possible to donate towards these charities and put a stop to GBV! Stewarts & Lloyds reached out to the suppliers and contacts and an astonishing R330 000 was raised in this campaign, R110 000 going to each of the 3 charities. The campaign was such a success thanks to the multiple donors and companies that came on board, to mention a few we had Nedbank, Pro Roof, Hero Roto, 4FiftySports, Vansan, Augusta Steel, Bidvest Protea Coin, Masslift Africa, Engineering News, Hot 102.7, 90.6 FM, and Caxton Local Newspapers to name a few!!
On the 11th of August 2022, Stewarts & Lloyds hosted a handover event at the Head Office premises, in Bedfordview, with all the charity representatives in attendance as well as all the sponsors. Everyone had a fantastic time, charities sharing some information on what they do, sponsors being able to meet the recipients and Johnny Koen who is a road racing cyclist from South Africa, active between 1987 and 1990, was the MC for the event and made it all come together beautifully.
Thanks to every single company and person who contributed to this initiative and thank you to Vicky for putting herself through the rigorous challenge and completing it! We are very proud to be able to make these donations for such worthy charities- in the hopes that more women will have a safe refuge from abuse!
