2022
Songo is a local charity, with an initial dream of providing a safe space for children to play on bikes, now evolving into an education support and sport program focussed on creating a long-term positive impact on the children of Kayamandi, Stellenbosch. For more information, consult: www.songo.info.
In support of their work within our community, EPT Recovery and our educational business EDUept are supporting two Songo graduates on a full anatomy and sports massage course, with the onward training and future prospects for soigneur work in the world of cycling and mountain biking.
2021
In October 2021, EPT Recovery took to the MTB trails of the Stellenbosch Winelands all in the name of youth living with Type 1 Diabetes. Proceeds from the charity auction at the EPT Winelands MTB Experience are being channelled to Diabetes S.A. and their Youth with Type 1 Diabetes Warriors Projects.
The EPT Initiative fundraising drive in 2021 was inspired by EPT Co-owner Russell’s young daughter being newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Through EPT’s love for mountain biking, we embarked on an awareness campaign to touch the lives of children living with Type 1 Diabetes.
2020
During the unprecedented year of Covid-19 lockdown during 2020, EPT Recovery was still able to embark on two successful fundraising drives, namely a Massagathon and an exclusive guided MTB tour through the Stellenbosch Winelands, named the EPT Winelands MTB Experience.
All proceeds were channelled to the fundraising efforts of the 2020 EPT Initiative charity drive in support of the Wines2Whales Crèche Initiative, aimed at raising much-need resources and funds for the young children of Botivier, one of the small towns situated on the Wines2Whales MTB route.
2019
Children in the Wilderness is the organiser and beneficiary of the annual Nedbank Tour de Tuli multi-stage mountain bike event. In 2018, the tour raised R1,8 million for the Children in the Wilderness programme, helping it sustain its projects across Africa, and continue to positively influence the lives of its many young participants living in the rural areas around Wilderness Safaris’ areas of operation. In 2019, EPT Recovery provided the recovery zone at the event at no charge to Tour de Tuli in order to aid their overall fundraising activities.
2018
The EPT Initiative once again teamed up with the FNB Wines2Whales Crèche Initiative to continue providing awareness and funding towards the projects and upliftment interventions in this community.
In this year, we proudly selected 4 special EPT ambassadors who took on the challenging Wines2Whales 3-day MTB race to raise awareness and funds on behalf of both the EPT Initiative and the FNB Wines2Whales Crèche Initiative.
These 4 individuals, from different sporting backgrounds, shared in this passion to form the EPT riding team and bring the mixture of novice and experienced riders together. They not only were challenged to reach the physical goal of train, gain and maintain right through to the finish line of the Wines2Whales MTB race but also committed to this much needed financial injection. The EPT Ambassadors raised R100,000 (approximately £6000) for the EPT Initiative in this year.
2017
The EPT Initiative partnered with the FNB Wines2Whales Crèche Initiative to assist implementing sustainable educational programs & financial support for minor renovations, building maintenance as well as the supply of necessary items to the crèches in the Botrivier community.
Botrivier is a small area in the Western Cape region of South Africa. This community is 1.5 hours from Cape Town and has some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery South Africa has to offer, however it also has some of the poorest and impoverished families in the Western Cape. The Botrivier community use what little resources they have to build and maintain stand-alone crèches for their children. It’s basic but it’s all they have. Sometimes the floor is wet, even muddy and the structures often break or develop cracks due to the harsh weather conditions of the Western Cape. Learning and playing in these conditions is tough – we saw it and wanted to make a difference where it was most effective.
