The Vinpro Foundation – which is well-known for its social upliftment programmes in the respective wine growing communities – will from now on be known as the EverGrow Foundation, with a renewed focus on reducing the harmful effects of alcohol abuse.
The non-profit organisation was initially established in 2013 to develop, support and improve the sustainability of the wine industry and its related stakeholders by promoting and backing people excellence. The three focus areas was early childhood development, skills and leadership development and harm reduction.
“The Vinpro Foundation’s board recently resolved to change its name to EverGrow Foundation in an effort to secure more support and funding from a myriad of sources, from within the wine industry and beyond,” says Caroline Poole, CEO of EverGrow Foundation. This follows a three year process undertaken by Vinpro to afford the Foundation full autonomy and operational independence.
EverGrow, in partnership with Aware.org has embarked on a new way of delivering rural community support by raising up and training Aware Ambassador’s in the community; a step change from the Vinpro Foundation social worker programme.
Unfortunately, funding constraints will see the discontinuation of the B-BBEE support initiative, which focused on securing BBBEE skills spend options to cellars and interested wine businesses. Vinpro shall be funding Agri’s Got Talent this year, an initiative which was previously funded by the Vinpro Foundation.
“We will continue our focus on community programmes at farm level with a specific emphasis on reducing the harms associated with alcohol misuse. EverGrow is committed to remedying these social challenges through continued support from our social work team and our Aware Ambassadors, who will continue to receive much-needed capacity building in an effort to strengthen them in their daily task of supporting their communities,” Caroline says.
The EverGrow Foundation can be reached at 084 393 9881, email caroline@evergrowfoundation.org.za, or follow EverGrow Foundation on Facebook and Twitter. “We will continue our commitment to Vinpro members and their farming communities,” Caroline says.
