unemployed
Alvinia Odendaal, Trainee Production Manager, Prestige Clothing

Alvinia Odendaal is one of the hundreds of women that are benefitting from the Foschini Group’s programme to employ previously unemployed women.

 

Cape Town, South Africa (21 January 2020) – When Alvinia Odendaal was given the opportunity to work within The Foschini Group (TFG), she never imagined just how far she would go. Alvinia was an early school-leaver and never gained the necessary certifications to get a good job.

Thanks to the company’s policies and programmes, she was given the opportunity to work for the Prestige Clothing division and worked her way into the role of trainee Production Manager.

TFG runs several Corporate Social Investment (CSI) projects, but their flagship one is the Sew Good Project. The Sew Good Project enables the company to offer employment at Prestige to previously unemployed women, much like Alvinia.

The women are trained and upskilled and end up manufacturing the TFG purple blanket which is given to communities during disaster relief efforts. Another way the company uplifts people is by focussing their efforts in rural towns where opportunities are fewer.

#SAINC visited Mhinga Village in rural Limpopo where impoverished youth have successfully completed a training programme, and are now employed in TFG stores. This has helped the whole community because, in one household, there are about six people who are dependent on this income. Through the management of their own supply chain, TFG is changing lives, and growing South Africa in the process.

A big part of their success lies in the fact that they control their own supply chain and manufacture through their own factories. Because of this they are able to compete with the best clothing manufacturers in the world.

Over the last five years, TFG has invested R600 million on education-related activities. They touch the lives of around 220,000 people directly each year, but the reach goes beyond that as every person involved with their training and employment programmes, uplifts their family at home too!

Through targeting the youth, TFG is slowly building hope in South Africa.

As part of the #SAINC nation-building initiative, The Foschini Group is joining a network of purpose-driven brands to share stories of positive progress in South Africa. These stories are being featured across social media in small snippets, just like the one below, but you will also be able to watch the full-length features live on television. You will find the airing times below:

Every Saturday on SABC2 – 14:30
04 February 2020 – Business Day TV – 16:00
06 February 2020 – Business Day TV – 12:00

Watch a snippet of the story below:


Sources: Regency Global
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About the Author

Tyler Leigh Vivier is a writer for Good Things Guy.

Her passion is to spread good news across South Africa with a big focus on environmental issues, animal welfare and social upliftment. Outside of Good Things Guy, she is an avid reader and lover of tea.

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