The programme has provided around R934-million in support to more than 8 000 schools and non-profit organisations (NGOs) beneficiaries across the country.

These entities have benefited from a sustainable income every time that a consumer swipes their MySchool card at Woolworths (in-store or online) and at other participating retailers.

Several leaders from Woolworths, including CEO Roy Bagattini and general manager of MySchool Pieter Twine, attended the event along with:
  • Louis Taylor from the National Education Department
  • MEC of Western Cape David Maynier
  • Dr Imtiaz Suliman, founder of Gift of the Givers
  • representatives from the global environmental organisation WWF South Africa, and
  • other beneficiaries including schools and NGOs that the programme has supported over the decades.

The anniversary celebration took place at Christel House School in Cape Town and was led by businesswoman and public figure Jo-Ann Strauss as the master of ceremonies.

To date, MySchool has established itself as a successful fundraising programme in South Africa. Raising over R8-million a month, the programme focuses on supporting:
  • schools
  • communities in need
  • charitable, environmental and animal organisations, and
  • other good causes.

Every day, South Africans contribute to the programme by shopping at participating retail partners nationwide (including, for example, Woolworths and loot.co.za) by swiping their MySchool card, says the organisation. With every swipe of this card, the retail partner donates a percentage of the supporter's spend to their chosen cause. The supporter does not pay a cent.

The programme was established in 1997 and initially began as a fundraising tool solely focused on providing individuals with the opportunity to raise funds for their local school every time they shopped. The programme expanded to assist 'Villages' and 'Planets'.

MyVillage and MyPlanet were established in 2006 and 2008 with MyVillage focusing on charitable organisations that support people and communities while MyPlanet benefits environmental and animal organisations, both domestic and wild.

"MySchool's CSI mission is to build investments and partnerships that unlock human potential to create sustainable, beneficial change in our world. But this would not be possible without our customers and retail partners," Twine says.

"We would not have been able to raise and manage these funds over the past 25 years if it was not for our 1.2 million supporters who swipe their cards so that retail and other partners can contribute a percentage of every purchase to their chosen beneficiary organisation," adds Twine.

Along with the over 8 000 beneficiaries registered to the programme, MySchool also established national funds to serve specific sectors of need with initiatives that are geared toward long-term sustainability.

Its Thuso Fund contributes to high-impact projects that support up to eight of the United Nations' sustainable goals through collaborating with credible NGOs and business partners.

In 2017, the Dream2Teach fund was started to subsidise scholarships for students wanting to become teachers. MySchool also partners with Woolworths on the Woolies Water Fund, donating R5.5-million to date — installing over 152 water tanks and over 550 hand washing stations in schools and areas of need and in collaboration with the Woolies Trust investments were made in many food security initiatives.

The MyPlanet Rhino Fund, launched in 2010, supports rhino protection and rehabilitation, as well as ranger training and high-tech security assistance supporting anti-poaching initiatives.

MySchool says that as a proud national give-back programme, it wants to utilise its special 25-year anniversary to acknowledge its supporters. Following the pandemic and the unprecedented socio-economic challenges we have been facing as a country over the past few years, it has really been encouraging to see that South Africans have continued to give back and support those in need.

Western Cape MEC for Education David Maynier says that MySchool had made a positive impact at hundreds of schools across the country.

"The MySchool programme has changed the lives of thousands of school children in South Africa by providing vital funding to improve the facilities at the schools that they attend," says Maynier.

"This has meant that a variety of resources have been provided to communities in need, including items such as books, stationery, toilets and refurbished classrooms. It's a worthy public, private partnership that needs to be commended and grown even further," concludes Maynier.

For more information, visit www.myschool.co.za. Individuals can also follow MySchool on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.