Focus Areas
The Amandla Omoya Trust supports social and economic advancement within a 50 kilometer radius from the Jefrreys Bay Wind farm. The Trust does this by partnering with local people and their organisations to build strong, vibrant, safe and prosperous communities that have more social and economic equality than in the past. It supports community-driven initiatives through grantmaking, capacity building and other activities.
After consultation with communities, a review of grant applications that it has received in the past, and analysis of needs, gaps and opportunities in the places where it works, the trust has decided to give priority to community organisations that focus on the following activities for now:
- Market and enterprise development: Skills and enterprise development in farming,fisheries and tourism, with a particular focus on young people.
- Mobility support: Self-sustaining initiatives to provide mobility support for physically impaired people, linked to enterprise development where possible.
- Food: Community-based nutrition initiatives that support vulnerable people including children and elderly people, with priority given to initiatives that produce food locally and/or source their food supplies from small local suppliers
The Trust also runs its own programmes including programmes to support young people in school and out of school develop life skills that prepare them to be job-ready or ready to participate in further education and skills development opportunities, giving educational and skills development bursaries to young people, and a capacity building programme to link small local businesses into the food supply chains of community based food distribution projects.
In addition, the Trust has set up a standing disaster relief fund to be able to respond to unexpected emergencies that affect communities as they arise, which it has used to respond to urgent community needs such as during the COVID-19 crisis, for example. It was able to provide food and blankets to those who were not able to benefit from feeding schemes which had to close, and provide protective equipment to enable feeding schemes to resume their activities.
