The partnership says its aim is to create a regional hub that will strengthen support for early childhood development (ECD) centres and help address South Africa's early learning crisis. 

The Unlimited Child's first satellite office aims to represent a significant investment in the systems, infrastructure and support needed to improve the quality of early childhood education at scale.

From the Hammarsdale hub, a team of six Impact Coaches and two head office staff members will work directly with ECD practitioners and centres across the region, providing coaching, mentoring, training and quality improvement support. The initiative has the potential to support more than 600 ECD centres and approximately 25 000 children in Hammarsdale and surrounding communities, says the partnership.

The launch builds on a partnership between The Unlimited Child and Ackermans that dates back to 2017. Together, the organisations have supported 940 ECD centres, trained more than 2 482 practitioners, aimed to impact nearly 39 000 children, expanded programmes across all nine provinces and Lesotho, to achieve a 93% school-readiness outcome, adds the partnership.

As one of South Africa's largest, and one of Africa's fastest-growing, non-profit early childhood development organisations, The Unlimited Child works across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Yemen, aiming to support practitioners and improving learning outcomes for children in under-privileged communities, says the partnership.

The Unlimited Child's model combines practitioner training, coaching, play-based learning resources, data-driven quality improvement and digital innovation to improve school readiness among young children. The organisation says it believes that strengthening practitioner capability is one of the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes, particularly in under-resourced communities. 

Through its long-standing partnership with Ackermans, which now extends to all nine provinces in South Africa, and its most recent collaboration with the Lesotho Ministry of Education, supported by Ackermans, the organisation has helped establish 25 new early childhood development centres in Lesotho, aimed at further expanding access to quality early learning opportunities across the region, says the partnership.

Beyond serving as an operational hub, the Hammarsdale satellite office will function as a demonstration classroom, practitioner training facility and digital innovation centre. It will aim to support data-driven programme delivery, virtual coaching, hybrid training and the rollout of The Unlimited Child's digital platform, including its new AI-powered coaching and support app designed specifically for ECD practitioners.

The technology aims to provide real-time guidance and developmental insights, helping practitioners improve classroom quality and child outcomes while remaining accessible in low-resource environments, says the partnership.

"The first six years of a child's life shape everything that follows," says Candice Potgieter, CEO of The Unlimited Child. "If South Africa is serious about improving education outcomes, we need to invest in the quality of early learning where it matters most. This satellite office strengthens our ability to support practitioners on the ground, measure impact more effectively and reach more children with quality early learning opportunities."

The office will aim to further create shared value for Ackermans employees and their families through parenting and caregiver workshops focused on school readiness, learning through play and child development, says the partnership.

"When we started this partnership almost a decade ago, we had 13 ECD centres under the Ububele Schools Programme, and in the last few years it has grown cumulatively to more than 940 centres, with a presence in two countries. It's an incredibly proud moment for me," says Hanifa Jassiem, HRM: Talent and Culture at Ackermans.

"I think Ackermans Phadima can be incredibly proud as well; to be part of an organisation that doesn't just preach bringing value to life as a purpose, but lives kindness and generosity for our customers and the greater society," adds Jassiem. "We are equally proud to be part of a partnership with The Unlimited Child, that delivers measurable results and contributes to long-term systems change in early childhood development."

"It has always been a partnership built on trust, openness, friendship and a genuine willingness to learn and grow together — Ackermans has never simply stood alongside us as a Co-Funder," says Potgieter.

The opening of the Hammarsdale satellite office aims to demonstrate how strategic partnerships between business and civil society can strengthen South Africa's ECD ecosystem while delivering measurable social impact and improved outcomes for children, concludes the partnership.

For more information, visit www.theunlimited.co.za. You can also follow The Unlimited Child on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or on Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor