The Cape Town Sailors’ Home recently donated R60 000 towards bursaries for students in Maritime Studies at the Granger Bay campus.

The organisation has been supporting Maritime Studies students annually for more than ten years

The Cape Town Sailors’ Home dates from the 1880s when benefactors made the establishment of a home from home for sailors possible in Cape Town, offering accommodation, meals and people support to sailors passing through Cape Town or waiting for new postings at sea.

The changes in the maritime industry prompted the management council of the Sailors’ Home to reconsider their support of matters maritime which resulted in the selling of the Sailors’ Home in 1994 and thereafter making donations to maritime support organisations from the interest accrued on the capital received for the Sailors’ Home property.

Earlier this year Mr Doug Jupp, the trustee responsible for liaison with CPUT and a General Botha old boy, visited the Department of Maritime Studies and was hosted by Captain Ed Snyders at Granger Bay who showed him the ropes regarding modern seagoing officer training. This included all the modern equipment as well as the trusted Admiralty seagoing training, culminating in a visit to the Maritime Department’s training vessel, Fathom X.

Jupp stated that it was great to be involved with helping an institution that offers training that will prepare students for their future careers. Captain Snyders responded that each student has a dream and that the Cape Town Sailors’ Home helps them in achieving these dreams. He continued that the bursaries were not a handout and those recipients were selected on the grounds of their desire to go to sea, their academic record and their financial position.

By Chris Lombaard and Tyrone van Heerden

Written by CPUT News
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The CPUT Library recently donated a large number of books to schools and public libraries located in underprivileged communities.

The book donation is an annual event at CPUT and forms part of the institution’s library Social Responsibility programme.

Janine Lockhart, who heads up Librarian Training and Development at the Library, said the CPUT Library realises the important role books can play in “improving people's lives.”

On Thursday, 11 September 2008, a ceremony was held at the Cape Town Library to officially hand over the donated books to recipients.

This year a large number of non-fiction books had been donated to Kulani Public Library in Khayelitsha and Langa Public Library in Langa.

A wide selection of Engineering and Hospitality books had also been donated to the West Coast College in Malmesbury.

Andile Ngqameni of the West Coast College said the much needed donation of books will impact on the lives of their students.

Currently the West Coast College accommodates a large number of underprivileged students from surrounding farms in the area.

He said the books will help students who are battling with literacy and numeracy.

“The books will give them a broader perspective on how to gain access or information on life skill materials and also broaden their minds to adopt the culture of learning,” said Ngqameni.

Senior librarian at Langa Public Library, Charl September also welcomed the donation of non-fiction books.

“The book donation from CPUT will boost the non-fiction collection substantially,” he said.

September said the library lacked non-fiction books and with the donation would be able to assist learners and students better.

Acting Branch librarian, Marion Davids said “as citizens we all have the right to education.""

She said the CPUT Library would like to build economically stable societies by ensuring that our communities have access to educational material.

By Tebogo Chiloane

Written by CPUT News
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Office Management and Technology students recently donated R35 000 to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

This year’s donation took the students’ overall contribution to the hospital over the past five years to R251 200.

First years in the department undertook the project to raise funds for the hospital as part of their Business Administration subject.

This year saw 182 students taking part in the project in groups, and the group called Heart Warmers made the most profit (R5 300).

The cheque of R35 000 was handed over to the hospital’s Events Manager, Tara van Schalkwyk, at a ceremony on Cape Town Campus.

Non-perishable food which was left over from the fundraising Market Day as well as clothes, toys and stationary were donated to the hospital.

The Cape Town-based hospital admits children of up to 16 years of age from all over Southern Africa.

Head of Department, Mario Da Costa, congratulated the students for their hard work and said the students’ contribution is welcome as it goes beyond CPUT.

Lecturer Belinda Berman emphasised that the donation will go directly to the children who need it most.

Red Cross boasts internationally acclaimed doctors and surgeons.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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 CPUT staff and students can help the SA Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) in their quest to save lives by joining a stem cell donor drive at the institution this week.

The SABMR helps to find donors for patients with life-threatening blood diseases such as leukaemia who do not have a match within their own families.

“The campaign is a collaboration between CPUT’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, Campus Health Clinics, the Centre for Community Engagement, the Marketing and Communication Department and the SABMR,” said the Biomedical Sciences Department’s Heather Hendrickse.

The size and demographic representation of the CPUT community could contribute greatly to the SABMR’s recruitment efforts.

Hendrickse said a cheek swab would be taken from the staff member or student, using a kit provided by the SABMR.

This will then be sent to a laboratory for testing and placed on a database and the person will be contacted should it turn out that they are a potential match for a patient.

Staff and students are invited to join the SABMR at the following campus locations and times:

March 4: Bellville Campus Health Clinic and Student Centre quad between 10:00-14:00.

March 5: Cape Town Campus Health Clinic between 10:00 and 14:00.

March 6 - Wellington Campus Health Clinic between 10:00 and 14:00. 

March 7 -Bellville Campus Health Clinic and the Student Centre Quad between 10:00 and 14:00

The campaign is registered as a CPUT service learning project.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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To honour Nelson Mandela’s legacy, The Civic Engagement (CE) Unit in collaboration with Reading Champions, the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS), CPUT Libraries and the Marketing and Communication Department (MCD) are encouraging the CPUT community to donate pre-used or unused reading materials from your homes, friends and neighbours.

This is part of the Office of the -Chancellor’s invitation to staff and students to participate in CPUT’s Mandela Day celebrations. According to Mandela: “When we read, we are able to travel to many places, meet many people and understand the world”.

“Help us to celebrate the legacy of Tata Madiba by donating books and other reading materials which contribute to the educational development of our communities,” says Manager of Civic Engagement Unit: Jacqui Scheepers, as she appeals for donations. Scheepers says the aim of this initiative is to contribute to the enhancement of language and literacy by contributing towards building “a culture of reading in our communities”.

She adds that the project grew after the CE was approached by FAS with the concept and for further support for the Reading Champions. A similar project was being planned as part of the Community Engagement Student Academy (CESA) and so the decision was made to combine the project into one for broader impact. The collaboration, together with the CPUT libraries and MCD, gave rise to the establishment of the CPUT Mandela Day task team which is responsible for driving this project.

The CPUT community is encouraged to donate new or pre-owned books and reading materials of all genres from fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, magazines and many more and the materials can target any age group. The drop off points for donations will be at the respective campus libraries and will be available until 15 June 2024. The community reading programmes will take place on Mandela Day on 18 July 2024 at various locations in the proximity of the campus.

“Reusing pre-owned reading materials is also environmentally responsible as it minimizes waste. However, kindly do not donate broken or damaged items!”

Only staff members and students will participate in the distribution of the reading materials to communities as this is organised by CPUT. However, community members can also donate reading materials through CPUT staff and students. Students and staff can join the Reading Champions, FAS, and CESA, students and CE to distribute the donated reading materials and to read to communities. For logistical purposes, only staff and students who have registered will be allowed to participate in the community visits.

The FAS, CESA, students, CE will distribute the donated reading materials and will read to communities. “In the spirit of Ubuntu, we encourage all staff and students to gather pre-used or unused reading materials form your homes and that of family, friends and neighbours and to donate these for the benefit of our communities. Many schools and organisations do not have the means to purchase reading materials and our hope is that we can bring the magic of reading to the lives of our communities,” Scheepers remarks.

Kindly find RSVP link for the Mandela Day event: https://forms.office.com/r/QBj2QGDCXk.

For more information, contact Gayelin Roman at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 021 959 6911.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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