As the year comes to an end, instead of celebrating Hope House with an Open Day when we can enjoy meeting with our supporters, family members and friends the doors have remained shut and until recently only family members and close friends have been able to visit Hope House. With the restrictions down to level one, residents are able to go out, as long as they remain outside but the restrictions of no shopping malls, restaurants and gatherings still remain and those visiting have to produce proof of vaccinations.  

I must compliment our staff and residents on remaining cheerful and focused during this difficult period.    All the staff and residents have been vaccinated and many of the staff have had their booster shots.  Hope House has been extremely fortunate so far and only one resident has been ill. I doubt whether the residents would have stayed so mentally well if it hadn’t been for our skills therapist, Sue Miller who has kept the residents busy during the year with various projects. They have created lovely pieces of art, written interesting poetry, watched fascinating videos and listened to interesting music. 

Last week we celebrated the end of the year with a whopping Christmas party and Sherezaan rose to the occasion.  We received generous donations from family members and “The Bridge Ladies”. The table was laden with roast lamb, corned beef, beautiful vegetables and salads, and then delicious deserts!! It was a real feast.

Our new solar energy system is up and running. We are very grateful to the MacFarlane Family Foundation for their generous donation in making this possible. We also thank the Prew Family for their donation of an energy efficient freezer and

Rose Hampton and Gia Geldenhuys of Omega Refrigeration who donated an extra-large energy-efficient fridge. With these changes we have achieved substantial savings in our electricity costs and the lights and essentials remain on during load shedding.  The latter are much appreciated by our residents.  We still have a few things to do to take us completely off the grid (a new fridge for the kitchen, a gas kettle and replacing all the light bulbs. R1000 will replace 10 light bulbs.)  This is our next fundraising project when possible.

In March 2021 Lizette Nash opened her home for 5 days and held her famous Book sale. Over a period of 5 days supporters browsed through books, two buyers at a time and left feeling, as always, satisfied with the purchase of excellent books paid for by a donation.  A record-breaking R32,000.00 was donated to Hope House over those five days. So, please hang on to your books…… Lizette has offered to host another book sale in 2022 and all precautions will be met and buyers entering the property will be carefully monitored.

In a recent survey of SA charities, the UK based Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), in assessing the effect of Covid on organisations stated…”At least half of the charities reported that they could not last more than six months without additional support and that the vast majority would not last a year….”

We have got through the year and would like to thank our many supporters and in particular;

MacFarlane Family Foundation, Adele Searll 100 Club, Woolworths Meadowridge, Peter and Liz Faber, Tom Fair, Val Dovey, Tony Clarke, Tina Milne, Susan Scher, Ro and Duncan Mackintosh, Penny Irvine, Stan Stubbs, Sandy Todd, Patti Fehrson, Mary Bateman, Adrian Arnott, Marcelle Stapleberg, Lynette Resnick, Lizette Nash, Lew Botha, L Fenn, Vermeulen Badenhorst, V Mallett, E Kirsten, J Lewis, Elise Burns Hoffman, Lindsay Ross, Margo Ratcliffe, Carol Norman, A Sainsbury, K Budge, Ken Andrew, Judy Badenhorst, J Fine, J Clayton, F Gibson, The Bridge Ladies, Estelle and Bryn Coustas, Ann and Sam Moore, B. Espach, Helena Thornton and Allastair Wesley 

We thank the Department of Health for all their support over this difficult period and for so effortlessly facilitating the vaccination of our residents and staff. 

We thank our volunteers – where would we be without you?

Ali Berrange for adding fun and fitness to our residents in the gym and on bikes or in the pool

Sherry Grobler for efficiently doing our accounts every month and on advising us financially

The Woolworths Collection volunteers who quietly and unobtrusively collect our donations from Woolworths on a Wednesday and Saturday. 

Lesley Moolman in assisting Stanley in the garden on a Wednesday and donating wonderful trellises for the granadillas

And 

Jed Sarkis for helping us with the website and newsletters

We thank our staff, Bonita, Sherri, Charmaine, Belinda, Leticia and Stanley on keeping the house going during these difficult times and always being cheerful and engaging with the residents, 

And lastly, I thank my Trustees who have given unstintingly of themselves over this last year and have helped me make difficult decisions. Together we have kept Hope House running smoothly.

And finally, on behalf of the Trustees, staff and residents of Hope House I thank you for your continued interest in Hope House. We also take this opportunity of wishing you joy and good health and happiness over the coming festive season and may 2022 be an easier year for all of us.

Should you wish to send us a donation we would be highly appreciative (banking details are Hope House Trust, FNB Rondebosch code 201507 A/C 62021701009). Upon receipt we will provide you with our Public Benefit Organisation tax certificate, confirming that donations to Hope House are tax-deductible for the donor.