As part of its Youth Month commitment to support and enable youth in need, the Fundi Foundation has donated its pre-loved office furniture to the TAG Restoration Centre. The donation – which included workstation desks and chairs; boardroom furniture, pedestals, counters and credenzas – will be used by the dedicated TAG team to continue their critical support for young individuals battling addiction; providing them with a conducive environment for recovery, learning, and growth.
“As Fundi, we’ve recently had the opportunity to re-evaluate our operational space and needs,” explains Jacques van Rooijen, Executive Head: Information Technology at Fundi and Fundi Foundation Trustee. “This made it possible for us to identify pre-loved and used furniture and office items that we were sure we could pass on to enable others. With it being Youth Month, there was the additional opportunity to donate this furniture to an organisation doing incredibly important work in this space – hence us identifying TAG as the beneficiary NPO.”
Founded in 2016 in Parys in the Free State, the TAG Restoration Centre is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing holistic support for individuals suffering from addiction. “Our work – which includes counselling, coaching, and skills development – aims to restore hope and equip the individuals in our care with the life skills needed to rebuild their lives and reintegrate into society post-recovery,” says Patrick Lee Golden, Founder and Chairperson of TAG Restoration Centre.
He adds that the centre currently supports 28 men from all walks of life, ranging from ages 19 to 55. The programme will run for about nine months, with support groups available post-recovery. “As a non-profit we are largely dependent on the kindness and generosity of individuals and corporates such as Fundi. We are exceptionally grateful for this donation as it will go a long way towards adding to the safe and nurturing space we have created for those in our care. The furniture will be used in our classrooms, skills development section, and office to support both staff and beneficiaries.”
“Youth Month is a special time for all of us at Fundi,” notes Van Rooijen. “With so many of our customers being young people on the brink of ‘new futures’, we always aim to ensure that Foundation activities during this month amplify important work already being done to add value to young people. In many ways, our Foundation is about creating a ‘hand-up” for those in need – making the alignment with TAG’s work significant.”
With furniture already delivered and now in use, the team from Fundi hopes that it will not only support the present generation but also lay the groundwork for a brighter future: “Part of our handover was also to make the TAG team aware of our FundiConnect website – where they can access information about everything from bursaries to how to make the best possible study choices going forward. We hope that this will give them additional motivation towards their recovery,” Van Rooijen concludes.