Minister Fritz visits innovative SHAWCO Kensington Centre

The Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Albert Fritz, visited the SHAWCO Kensington Centre.

The SHAWCO Kensington Centre, built in 1968, is an innovative multi-purpose facility which provides key services to the communities of Kensington, Maitland and Factreton.

The Centre provides a safe space for community members to access the following services;

• Early Childhood Development (Crèche),
• After school education programmes,
• Reading room and library,
• Saturday school learner tuition,
• Rags-to-Riches clothing store
• Computor training classes,
• Community hall which hosts fitness, dance and music classes,
• Seniors Club.

The facility also houses the Kensington local office of the Department of Social Development (DSD), and various other key NGO partners, such as; Meals On Wheels, FAMSA, Daughters of Destiny, Union of Jewish Women, and the Women’s Communicare Network.

The facility is an integral part of the community. Just over 85 children attend the ECD centre on-site, and 195 elderly residents form part of the Senior’s Club and are supported with meals at home by NGO Meals On Wheels. Over 300 people form part of the various activities hosted in the community hall.

As a Department we will continue to support organizations which actively pool effort and resources. The Minister committed to looking into some of the challenges experienced by the facility, with the view of expanding the reach of the services rendered, and building more partnerships.