OMSFIN in the Community
At Old Mutual Specialised Finance (OMSFIN), we strive to have a positive impact on both our clients' investments as well as the communities within which we live and work.
We are fortunate to be part of an organisation that is as passionate about community involvement as we are. Corporate responsibility is a core component of our parent company, Old Mutual plc.
Locally this is realised through the Old Mutual Foundation, while our range of community projects are primarily initiated through Old Mutual Investment Group of South Africa (OMIGSA)'s corporate responsibility team, Green Hands. Green Hands' core focus is on educational development and support, health and housing.
We encourage all our staff to be actively involved in giving of their time and their resources. We believe in leading by example and are proud to be able to use some of the profits we generate to make a tangible difference in our community and to the lives of so many:
| The Fellowship Bible Church (FBC) ministers to communities in the Ottery/Philippi area of Cape Town, including the Freedom Park squatter camp, Rix Farm and Oeloff Farm. Their ministry includes a school and a clinic. In 2009 we undertook to rebuild and restock the FBC Christian School kitchen, where they feed over 75 children two meals a day. We supplied all the building materials and got incredible support from a number of artisans, who worked at minimal rates through their builder’s holiday.
The new structure is five times larger than the old kitchen and now also has hot running water.
Once complete, we purchased gas burners, fridges/freezers, an oven and tables. We then had the entire school property fenced off to ensure the safety of the children.
In 2010 we supplied all the material required to build a dining/recreational hall. We continue to be involved with the FBC Christian School - which includes hosting fun events for the kids, like outings to the movies.
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| The Green Hands Literacy Centre is a volunteer organisation that works at the Good Hope Seminary School, Cape Town. They assist over 50 children from grades 2 to 5 who need help in literacy, the English language and numeracy. The volunteer programme has grown in leaps and bounds and has over 22 regular volunteer "teachers".
OMSFIN donated R12 000 towards the purchase of books and infrastructure requirements for the centre.
 
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Every year we contribute to Green Hands' Christmas Toy Run and Blanket Drive. All financial contributions made by our staff are matched by OMSFIN. Our staff's dedication and commitment to social responsibility is demonstrated by the level of individual contributions made.
Green Hands Christmas Toy Run
Recent beneficiaries included:
- Fellowship Bible Church Christian School (Ottery, Cape Town): School for young children that, for a myriad of reasons, cannot fit into mainstream schools.
- Masigncine Children's Home (Mfuleni, Cape Town): This home cares for 28 young children between the ages of three months and six years. The children have been neglected, abandoned or orphaned and are brought to the home by Social Services and the Children's Court.
- Jolly Jumping Care Centre (Mfuleni, Cape Town): The centre cares for over 40 babies and children up to the age of five.
Green Hands Blanket Drive
Each year we are able to reach further into homeless communities to provide people with some protection from the cold winter nights.
Beneficiaries of our blankets include:
- Catholic Welfare & Development (CWD) and VOC Outreach Programme, Mitchells Plain. (2010)
- Nations Mission, Western Cape (2009)
- Atlantis township, Western Cape (2008)
- Elim village, Western Cape (2007)
- Touwsrivier community, Western Cape (2006)
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| The Ruyterwacht Senior Centre aims to improve the quality of life of elderly and disabled people in the Ruyterwacht, Thornton and Matroosfontein suburbs of Cape Town. Twice a week this NGO transports around 280 people to a local school hall and provides them with lunch and an opportunity to participate in various social activities.
Through OMIGSA’s Green Hands, we supplied funding for 280 blankets and a total of 1480 meals.
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| Once every three years we refurbish our computers and donate them to schools. Over the years we have donated many computers to underprivileged schools across South Africa.
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| The Starfish Greathearts Foundation aims to bring life, hope and opportunity to children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. They work with partners at grassroots level to provide care and support through various services, including home visits, counselling and accessing education and social grants.
OMSFIN has co-sponsored their fundraising events over the years.
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| A few years ago OMSFIN heard about Mrs Abrahams, who takes abused and abandoned children off the streets of Cape Town and into her home. She looks after about 15 young children, raising them as her own. She has developed such a good reputation that the police bring her homeless children whom they found living on the streets. Over the years, OMSFIN has developed a strong bond with the extended Abrahams family. We have bought them a washing machine and one staff member regularly donates food vouchers to the home. Mrs Abrahams and her family are invited to our family functions and we regard her and her children as part of the OMSFIN family.
The Love His Children Safehouse is in Athlone, Cape Town.
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| "Nonceba" means "sympathy" in Xhosa. Khayelitsha township, outside Cape Town, is home to over a million people, many of whom are unemployed and have HIV/AIDS. Sadly, it is estimated that one in three Khayelitsha children suffer serious sexual abuse by the time they are 18.
After a local policeman was jailed for killing a suspected rapist, community leader, Nocawe Mankayi set up a project to protect their children. Through generous donations, the Nonceba Family Counselling Centre was opened. The little centre quickly became the heart of anti-abuse campaign in Khayelitsha and larger facilities were desperately needed
OMSFIN donated R300 000 towards the acquisition of land and the building of a safe house for abused children. Subsequent OMSFIN donations, as well as contributions from other generous donors, resulted in the new centre comprising a counselling centre, a medical centre and a safe house for children. We hosted fun events and outings for the children and their carers. 
Cape Town Premier, Helen Zilla working
on the foundations
Nonceba Centre
Nonceba Outing
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| Feedback, now part of FoodBank South Africa, is an organisation that works with Government, food producers, manufacturers and retailers to alleviate hunger and food insecurity in urban and rural areas of South Africa. Working closely with community leaders, faith-based organisations and non-profit organisations, they distribute food to disadvantaged communities. OMSFIN donated R100 000 towards the running costs of a van used for food collection and distribution in and around Cape Town.
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| We donated a microbus to SOS Children's Villages. This social development organisation builds small family-type homes for orphaned and abandoned children. The head of the family is the SOS mother, who provides 8 to 10 children with the affection and security they need for their sound development. There are 120 homes across South Africa.
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| Shawco is a student community service organisation linked to the University of Cape Town. They provide a range of services to disadvantaged communities, from education to medical clinics. OMSFIN donated R100 000 towards their elderly meals-on-wheels programme. Amongst a range of services for the elderly, Shawco provides up to 100 meals on wheels every day to an old-age home in Nyanga, Cape Town.
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| OMSFIN donated two liver machines to the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.
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