The Hollard Sports Industry Awards celebrated their tenth year last week with a glitzy online awards show with the esteemed Michael Johnson as guest speaker.

SOHK were honoured to be nominated for the Social and Environmental Impact Award alongside so many great programmes. Ultimately we lost out to Tennis SA’s amazing transformative work, but appreciate we really appreciate being credited amongst such big name institutions.

Next year!

Tough SOHK Coach Urshwin comes from a background in conflict alleviation and violence prevention in gangs with the Ceasefire project in Hanover Park. Listen to his story and what drives him to be a positive, caring role model with young people from across the city of Cape Town.

When we first met Thaara she came across as a steely, extroverted person that does not get her feelings hurt easily. We also noticed that when it comes to unfairness or mistreatment she became very defensive and protective.

Thaara shared with us that throughout her life she has been exposed to violence, people close to her indulging in drug and alcohol abuse and she's felt feelings of bereavement. She explained that exposure to these broke down her confidence and trust, leading her to create a wall between her and everyone around her. Her unhappiness at school lead to continuous bunking, and she struggled with her school work.

But through a relationship with a caring SOHK mentor she discovered her worth and her ability to change her path. She believes that SOHK taught her to always trust the process and believe in herself. She uses the skill of controlling her emotions and temper to calm down in order to think rationally. She can confidently say she's capable of overcoming any obstacle that comes her way.

Here is her story.

SOHK are delighted to call Capitec Bank a CSI partner for 2021, thank you for the generous donation!

SOHK is an NGO who rely on corporate and individual sponsorship to reach more young people and improve their mental wellbeing and we appreciate all the help along the way! #fundraising #mentalhealth

School of Hard Knocks South Africa are delighted to welcome Craig Bandason, CFA as it's newest Director.

Craig and I met on the touch rugby field and while I was impressed by his rugby prowess (and wingspan - impossible to dodge!) he also stood out as a person driven by social change and doing things differently.

Craig was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and has 15+ years of experience in financial markets, with a proven investment track record as well as tons of leadership experience. He recently started Olduvai Capital.

We are confident he will bring all of this experience to the SOHK Board and lead on creating a diversified and broad donor base for SOHK's exciting vision bringing mental health services to vulnerable communities.

Welcome Craig!

We are delighted to welcome #socialworker Fakhrie Arendse to the School of Hard Knocks team in Cape Town.

Fakhrie will be working with SOHK participant’s primary care-givers to identify, create and build supportive child and family teams affected by COVID19.

We are so grateful to Laureus Foundation and the #sportforgood Response Fund for their grant to make this happen.