As another school year draws to a close, the remarkable generosity of individual and corporate donors has made it possible for 110 000 children in need to benefit from the My Walk initiative.
This programme, a collaboration between Netcare and Adcock Ingram Critical Care, focuses on social development, environmental sustainability, and enterprise development. Thanks to these contributions, thousands of children have received brand-new school shoes, equipping them with essential resources for education and helping to foster a brighter future.
| This year some 110 000 school children received shiny new school shoes through the My Walk Made With Soul initiative. |
| Delanie Bezuidenhout, general manager of My Walk, thanked individual and corporate donors for equipping children in need with essential footwear |
“Since inception in 2019, My Walk has equipped 232 389 children with brand new fully recyclable school shoes made from high quality polyvinyl chloride [PVC] reclaimed from uncontaminated, non-hazardous healthcare waste, such as drip bags and tubing, collected from 19 participating Netcare hospitals in Gauteng,” says Delanie Bezuidenhout, General Manager of My Walk.
“We are extremely grateful to our My Walk sponsors for their tremendous support in 2024 to make the path to an education a little easier for the beneficiaries at schools all over the country. Additionally, we have diverted 125 422 kgs of healthcare waste from landfills, repurposing it to extend its usefulness and contribute to a circular economy.”
For each ton of PVC material recycled and repurposed to make My Walk school shoes, some 1.5 tons of greenhouse gasses are prevented from entering the atmosphere.
Awards for sustainable shoe solution
My Walk was recently recognised in the SA Breweries (SAB) Beyond Awards, winning the “Beyond Sustainability Project” category.
“At present, on average, 7 991 children each month receive a pair of My Walk school shoes, which is incredibly rewarding for our passionate team behind this initiative,” says Colin Sheen, Managing Director of Adcock Ingram Critical Care.
“This recognition highlights the scalability and sustainability of integrated and transformative environmental and social projects across the African continent. The 2024 SAB Beyond Award serves as the latest acknowledgement of the significant potential of this innovative model to convert waste into hope for future generations.”
My Walk was also recognised with a Nedbank Green Economy Award for non-profit organisations in the Nedbank Trialogue Business in Society 2023 awards. Furthermore, the project was selected as a finalist in the New York Festivals Award for health and wellness innovation and is also currently a finalist for the Eco-Logic Circular Economy and Waste Award 2024.
New horizons in KwaZulu-Natal
Dr Nceba Ndzwayiba, Netcare’s Group Director of Human Resources and Transformation, and Chairperson of the My Walk Board, announced plans to expand the collection of used uncontaminated PVC waste materials to include Netcare hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Thanks to the generous contributions from individuals and businesses over the past five years, My Walk has experienced remarkable growth, providing school shoes for countless children. In response to the rising demand for quality and durable footwear for students, we are committed to enhancing our distribution efforts to ensure that no child in our country walks barefoot to school,” Dr Ndzwayiba says.
“In the first phase of the expansion, Netcare Kingsway, Netcare Umhlanga and Netcare St Augustine’s Hospitals will lead the way by joining this innovative solution for reducing healthcare waste to landfill,” he says.
“Our mission is to leverage our sustainable and innovative solution towards recycling healthcare waste to ensure that every child in South Africa has a pair of school shoes.”
“We are deeply thankful for the support and recognition we received over the past five years that have given wings to the My Walk initiative. We invite sponsors to participate in our year-end drive to raise donations for schools where these shoes are especially needed,” Bezuidenhout concluded.
My Walk encourages individuals and organisations to consider contributing to this cause by providing a pair of durable, sustainable school shoes for just R35 per pair – the equivalent of a small cappuccino.
My Walk is a registered public benefit organisation (PBO) and can provide sponsors with an 18A certificate.
One pair of school shoes for a learner costs R35.
Five pairs of school shoes for five learners cost R175.
Ten pairs of school shoes for 10 learners cost R350.
To enquire about bulk corporate orders, sponsorships or donations contact Delanie Bezuidenhout at [email protected].
Deposit your donation into the My Walk sponsorship bank account:
Account name: My Walk Made with Soul NPC
Account number: 62848314366
Bank: FNB
Account type: Corporate current account
Branch: 255005 RMB Corporate Banking Johannesburg
Swift code: FIRNZAJJ
Reference: Your Name
Money raised in this way will be used to donate shoes to children through non-profit organisations as part of wider community upliftment initiatives.
Ends
Notes to editor
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For media enquiries, contact MNA at the contact details listed below.
Issued by: MNA on behalf of Netcare and Adcock Ingram Critical Care
For media enquiries contact: Martina Nicholson, Meggan Saville, Estene Lotriet-Vorster and Clementine Forsthofer
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]