Accolade Wines praised for community support

Published: 08 October, 2012

Accolade Wines has been praised for its "priceless contribution" to the Kayamandi township, near Stellenbosch, after helping fund two new classrooms at its Ikaya pre-primary school.

Deputy Mayor of Stellenbosch, Martin Smuts, paid tribute to the company's donation at a special opening ceremony, claiming it would have a "long-term impact on the community" and would be "priceless for future generations".

Accolade Wines, whose South African office is based close to Kayamandi, has been a strong supporter of the Ikaya pre-primary school since it was founded over a decade ago.

The school was founded to help the Kayamandi community target one of the key problem areas that exists in poorer communities across South Africa - namely lack of education among younger children before they enter the state school system.

Paul Schaafsma, general manager UK, Ireland and the US for Accolade Wines, said the Ikaya project was a blueprint for how companies could work with local communities.

He said: "Accolade Wines believes it has a strong responsibility to the communities it operates in. What the ceremony today showed was what a strong bond the Accolade team has built up with Kayamandi and I think it is a wonderful example of how a business can add value and friendship to a community."

Printer friendly version