In this special series we will share insights from some of the leaders of organisations we work with - our Implementing Partners. These women are inspiring, motivated, deeply invested and committed to YearBeyond's mission to connect youth to opportunities.

In our first blog, we chatted to Debbie Bruce, entrepreneur and director of Womb to Tomb Development Centre (YeBo Implementing Partner) in the Eden District.

Brandon Mwale, from Capricorn in Cape Town, is an aspiring Charted Accountant and a Mathematician at heart. He describes himself as ‘balanced’. He does not let one element of his life outshine the rest. When not at work, Brandon enjoys spending time with his loved ones. He also reads, cooks and watches a lot of rugby. For Brandon, giving back to his community is a natural thing to do. The many opportunities he received throughout his journey, including the YearBeyond programme, planted a seed in him to pass on the kindness to other disadvantaged young people. “It's because of this that I assist where I can because I truly believe that we should pay back kindness with more kindness”, says Brandon.

Greetings from the Youth and After School Programme Office. This quarter has been a busy one. As we grapple with the impacts of COVID-19 we have all been affected in some way. We have seen family, friends and colleagues becoming ill and in some cases we may have lost someone dear to us. Schooling and our work environments have been disrupted forcing us to adapt and innovate.

It has been a busy start to the year for the YearBeyond Academic Programme. 2020 brought with it many unexpected challenges and a lot of welcomed learning. The Academic Programme kicked off the year with two weeks of training for our Implementing Partners (IP’s) and their Mentors. 

The YeBo Scouts programme has been running since 2017, but this year saw the substantial expansion of the programme.  64 YeBoneers were recruited to join the Scouting in Schools Programme from communities across the Cape Metro. 

This afternoon, Minister Anroux Marias celebrated the Year Beyond data, better known as the YeBo Data cohort, after successfully completing their training and now moving into their work placements until December. 

On Thursday, 3 December 2020, 300 youth graduated from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport’s YearBeyond Academic Programme. This is the first step for these young people to go on to find employment opportunities, with their new skills and work experience as a base.

As part of the Western Cape’s drive to boost the local economy and jobs sectors, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, through its YearBeyond Programme, has been working to equip young people with the necessary skills and opportunities to access jobs.

The 2020 Annual YearBeyond Progression Days took place on 27 and 28 October 2020. Over the course of these two days, nearly 300 YeBoneers went through a series of workshops that included optimising their job search, crafting a CV and Cover Letter, mastering professional communication and acing the interview process.

Yesterday, Minister Anroux Marais launched the Tygerberg and Northern District’s Mask Activation, scheduled to take place every week in the area.

To kick off the activation, Minister Marais received the generous donation of 1500 masks from Old Mutual at Riverton Primary School in Bishop Lavis.

As we nationally commemorate youth this month, the Western Cape Government has developed an innovative Youth Service Programme, YearBeyond, which provides youth between the ages of 18 and 25 an opportunity to gain meaningful work experience, build their work readiness skills and CV while giving back to their communities.

The YearBeyond (YeBo) Social Innovation Challenge (SIC) and graduation ceremony took place on 15 November 2019 at the FNB Portside Building in Cape Town. This year, ninety-eight youth volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25 were deployed to various no- and low-fee schools across the Western Cape.

On Friday, 9 November 2018, 105 young people pitched their solutions to one of our wicked problems, the inability of more than three-quarters of our youth to read with comprehension.  They presented ideas of how we as a nation can build a culture of reading. Minister Anroux Marais who was one of the judges hailed the event as “inspiring and rewarding.”

On 17th October 2017, the National School of Government awarded the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport and the Department of the Premier for Excellence in Youth Development Training. The award was in recognition of the MOD YearBeyond (YeBo) programme and was conferred at the Public Sector Trainers Forum (PSTF) Awards during the 19th PTSF conference.

Ten YearBeyond programme volunteers were awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Johannesburg after claiming the top spot at the programme’s Social Innovation Challenge on 28 October 2016.