Socio-Economic Development (SED) Projects

Abacus firmly believes in socio-economic development and providing support to institutions in need of developing sustainable income-generating activities to become active participants in the South African economy. Contributions to SED projects are part and parcel of Abacus' Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives and at least 75% of our SED contributions directly benefit black people and communities.The three SED projects Abacus supports include the Sir Alfred Health and Elderly Care initiative, the Sterkfontein Coffee Shop and the Sparrow Schools Education Trust.

Sir Alfred Health and Elderly Care
Sir Alfred Health and Elderly Care is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, that was established to improve the lives of disadvantaged people, prioritising the elderly, in the Klipfontein area, including Mayibuye, and Alexandra.

The organisation was founded by dedicated social workers, nurses, doctors and philanthropists to serve the elderly through various programmes, activities and events. One of the key objectives of the facility is to create an effective old aged friendly learning environment to promote resource generating activities for financial sustainability of the old aged facility beyond donor funding.
Abacus involvement
To assist the Sir Alfred Health and Elderly Care organisation to reach its objectives Abacus has partnered with the centre to set up a skills training facility to assist the community to empower themselves. Abacus also provide monthly grocery donations for the elderly.

In 2021 Abacus establish a six-month sewing training programme where 4 learners participated and received a sewing certificate which will assist them in finding employment or start their own business.

Due to the great excitement about the sewing training in the community Abacus, in 2022, will once again sponsor this programme and if there is a growth in numbers of participants will purchase additional sewing machines to enable the training.

Abacus will investigate the needs of the elderly community during 2022 and plans will be made to implement additional skills training based on their needs in 2023.
Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital Coffee Shop
Sterkfontein Hospital was opened in 1943 and admits most of its patients from Johannesburg and surrounding areas. The hospital is under the clinical control of the Professor of Psychiatry of the University of the Witwatersrand and is linked with the psychiatric departments of the Johannesburg General and Tara Hospitals.

Abacus partnered with Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital in 2019 to create a coffee shop to assist with the rehabilitation of patients and provide them with social skills to be successfully reintroduced back into society. The coffee shop not only provides a service for inpatient rehabilitation and skills development but also provides a relaxing environment for staff members during their work breaks.

We assisted the hospital with the design and renovation work, purchasing of furniture and equipment as well as the training of the staff to run the coffee shop and we continue to contribute to this project in 2022 by assisting with some of the monthly operational costs.
Sparrow Schools Educational Trust
Abacus has partnered with Sparrow Schools Education Trust based in Melville to provide financial support to learners to achieve a comprehensive and sustained education.

The school is a non-profit organisation that aims to provide educational opportunities to children with barriers to learning. It is registered as a school for Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSED) which offers affordable, quality special needs education to learners unable to access specialised services, given the rising cost of remedial teaching and learning facilities.

Abacus funded six learners in the foundation phase in 2021 - two of the learners received a full scholarship whilst the remaining four required a part sponsorship to complete the academic year.

Abacus will continue to contribute to the funding of the same 6 learners in 2022 and will also assist with the purchasing of educational equipment, for example, science equipment and/or online mathematics tools, for the school in 2022.

With the contribution the Sparrow Schools aim to create a society in which young South Africans with learning challenges are equipped with education and vocational skills, empowering them to responsibly and independently participate in the economy.

Abacus is committed to the education and skills development of previously disadvantaged individuals across all ages and will continue to seek such ventures that require support and assistance of any kind.