Chairman's Letter

As a businessman in the highly competitive and pressurised world of finance, I am grounded by the words of Winston Churchill who opined, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Everything we do in the Spirit Foundation is motivated by the passion we have for our programmes and each person who works for or with the Foundation shares this same passion that is hot wired into their social DNA. So, may I thank each and every one of our donors, supporters, partners, programme heads and staff for the remarkable progress made so far in 2025.

The Spirit Foundation builds community-centred solutions, as involving the community in decision-making creates ownership and empowerment. Our projects are designed and managed by locals and are supported by the Foundation’s experts in the areas of education, community development and wildlife conservation.

We are also fixated on measuring impact. Each of our programme General Managers tracks progress over time using robust evaluation frameworks that capture both quantitative and qualitative outcomes. This helps refine strategies and demonstrates the long-term value of each programme.

But this is all “programme speak” as Churchill might say. What I’d like to do in this edition of the Full Circle is to invite each person reading this publication to choose a programme you identify with and become a supporter.

Your support may be in the form of a donation or regular funding for a programme, or giving in kind, or of your time. But as a first step, please visit the Spirit Foundation website, (www.spiritf.org) and contact us to find out more about the programme you are interested in and see how we can join hands to make South Africa a better place for all.

Sincerely,