Joe Public, a creative agency based in Johannesburg, is using the Loeries as a chance to raise funds for education in South Africa, by running 700km (to the Loeries).
Every year, the Loeries takes place in Durban. The Loeries is an awards ceremony for the advertising and brand communications industry. It is considered one of the highest accolades in the creative industry.
“The Loeries promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of fresh thinking, innovative ideas and outstanding execution.”
The celebrations and parties hosted during the awards weekend are some of the most coveted parties in the industry. Joe Public decided to turn their agency efforts towards a charitable nature leading up to the awards weekend in August. They decided to raise funds for education by running a relay race from Johannesburg to Durban.
Jarrod Pretorius, the Joe Public Creative Group Head, explained the importance of the relay race and how it will help boost education in SA.
“We are embarking on a daring fundraising initiative for One School at a Time (OSAAT), and we need your support to make it happen!
OSAAT believes that a proper solution for education can deliver a solution for poverty and crime. It is their belief that teachers, through a functional educational system, will become the engine that drives the change in every social and economic challenge that our country faces today.
Joe Public shares the belief that the growth of our country must come through education, One School at a Time. As a part of the creative industry, we have the ability to make a change to our country, one step at a time.”
The One School at a Time organisation assists with the upliftment and advancement of high schools in Johannesburg and primarily assists with the increase and more importantly, the quality of the matric pass rate but also addresses leadership and management skills of the SMT and establishes a clear purpose and value system for the whole school.
They believe that a schools success and growth are very much dependent on the visibility and quality of leadership within the school, and those who create a positive culture within a school. The schools that the agency supports through OSAAT are the Forte High School in Soweto and Itirele-Zenzele High School in Diepsloot.
“We’re creating a Joe Relay Run, running non-stop for the 700 km route from Joe Public in Johannesburg to the Loeries in Durban, from 15–17 August, ahead of the award show.”
The company is hoping to raise R280,000.00 to go to the OSAAT project. Their fundraising campaign will see them collect money, one stride at a time.
“R280 000 goes a long way in providing an extra lessons programme over the weekends and during the school holidays for all our matric students – throughout the year. Meaning more students have more opportunity to succeed post matric for bursary applications, tertiary education, internships and employment possibilities. That’s what we call Growth”
“In the process we want to create awareness and hype around the initiative and inspire others to participate and support the OSAAT initiative into the future.”
They have set up a BackaBuddy page so that the public can get involved and should any corporates want to join the cause, they can send an email to Bronwyn James at Joe Public who will gladly assist and provide all the usual corporate donation documentation.