HSBC has announced that in February, the brand donated 110 new laptops and monitors to SOS Children's Villages South Africa. The devices were presented at an event that was held at the SOS Children's Village Mamelodi, Pretoria. The devices will be distributed to the 11 SOS Children's Villages programmes across the country.
For more than 10 years, HSBC has been in partnership with SOS Children’s Villages South Africa. This has mostly been through its Future First programme, which aims to support young people with access to education and life-skills.
The devices will be used for SOS's digital village programme, which aims to bridge the digital divide, tackle social ills through technology and make information readily accessible to the children and youth. This initiative also seeks to improve literacy skills, develop digital skills and improve the youth's employability skills.
SOS Children's Villages IT team will further offer to the children and youth cybersecurity training to raise awareness about data protection, cyberbullying and social media. "The issue of youth unemployment and lack of skills are challenging issues that need to be addressed, especially within the South African context where more than half of all young people are unemployed," says Mandy Spies, SOS Children's Villages' corporate fundraiser.
HSBC has also given bursaries to over 50 of SOSSA's tertiary students. This contributes to creating academically independent students who are well equipped to bridge the gap between life before and life after high school. It also aims to help South Africa's most marginalised young people develop the necessary skills that will make them more employable.
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