Hoopers VW and the GO!Durban Cycle Academy spent Mandela Day empowering youth and celebrating the value of education.

The activities included a handover of 40 school bags and stationery donated by the 80 members of staff at the Hoopers VW dealership. 10 volunteers from the dealership, including the Managing Director Mr. Dave Hooper, spent their 67 minutes for Mandela Day with the children on site, playing fun games led by the coaches and nurturing their creativity with colouring books and “playdough”.

Education is a key pillar of the GO!Durban Cycle Academy with academic support provided to learners by tutors every Saturday morning before riding commences. At the end of every term, learners are required to share their school reports with the site managers, and a strict “no pass, no race” rule is applied to riders in the race team.

“In the first term this year, our site had a 61% pass rate,” says Brightson Dldadla, KwaMashu Site Manager. “The kids are very dedicated to the extra classes and we have seen improvement in their marks. We are expecting the overall pass rate for Term 2 to be higher.”

“In line with the National Development Plan, we believe that access to quality basic education is the foundation of a successful future for our youth,” explains Shaun Peschl, Sports Director of the GO!Durban Cycle Academy.

“We use sports as a means to empower the youth, and in addition to the life skills that they learn on the bike, we simultaneously provide academic support to ensure that they have multiple avenues of opportunities available to them once they matriculate and thus increase their chances of employability as active citizens in their communities.”

“We are grateful to our partners, Hoopers VW, for their investment which has greatly motivated, inspired and enabled members of the academy to keep working hard in school and pursuing academic excellence,” Peschl concludes.