Soweto charity to benefit from Rainbow Nation Walk

03 December 2015

 

When cricket icon and former England captain Sir Ian “Beefy” Botham starts pounding the streets of South Africa on December 10 in the name of charity, a Soweto non-governmental organisation will be following his progress with keen interest.

 

The Kliptown Youth Programme (KYP), which provides educational support and afterschool assistance for disadvantaged learners, is one of the four beneficiaries of Botham’s Rainbow Nation Walk. Beefy and his crew will start the walk in Cape Town and finish it in Pretoria on December 17.

All proceeds raised from the walk will be divided equally among KYP, Cape Town-based Nazareth House, Chipembere Rhino Foundation and Waitrose Foundation. When Beefy started walking for charity in 1985, many people said it was just a temporary publicity stunt. He has been at it ever since. In his first walk 30 years ago, he raised more than £1-million (about R21-million in today’s exchange rate) for leukaemia and lymphoma research.

An excited Beefy said of the Rainbow Nation Walk: “I am really looking forward to coming back to South Africa, a country I love and have spent a lot of time in, to complete my next walk. It will be a challenge, those hills of Cape Town, the heat of Johannesburg and having to walk past those wineries without sampling any [of their wines]."

“I am excited about walking in Soweto, a place I have not been to for many years. Four fantastic charities are benefiting from the project and we have great support from our sponsors,” he said.

KYP’s Thulani Madondo is equally excited about the walk.

“This walk is not only going to change the lives of those in need but it will also give the world the opportunity to learn about how our differences as people have managed to impact each other’s lives positively,” he said.

“We hope that it will inspire our young children to be active members of the society and stand up against social issues affecting our communities.”