Schools in the UK have donated over 1,000 unwanted English language, text and reading books as part of Help a South African School, the campaign run by national fruit grower association Hortgro.
Some 24 pallets – compared with 16 last year – were shipped on the 9 January 2016, containing over 1,100 boxes from 80 schools. The boxes were stored by Manchett’s in Warboys, Cambridgeshire, over the collection period.
The South African fruit industry teamed up with a number of transport and logistics companies, who donated their services to ensure the books arrived safely with around 50 South African schools.
“Using our extended network enabled the collection from schools in all parts of the UK and Northern Ireland,' said Linda Mortimer, service manager at myHermes. 'myHermes are delighted to have been part of the initiative and will continue its support in the coming years”.
The group provided their services for the third year in a row, Express Freight Services organised the haulage from Manchett’s to London Gateway port, Damco arranged all shipping logistics, and Maersk provided shipping.
“This is the fourth year we’ve been involved with this project and the help that we give is more than compensated for by the looks on the faces of the children when they receive their new books at the schools,' noted Damco's James Hammond. 'Damco in conjunction with the relevant shipping line arranges all export formalities and movement of the books from the consolidation point up to arrival in South Africa. We are delighted to be involved with such a worthy cause.'
LCL Logistics Southern Africa Pty Ltd assisted Damco with the export. Tineke Mong, LCL commented: “We had the privilege of not only co-ordinating import logistics, but were present during the distribution of books at the schools and having first hand
exposure to handing books over to 'future readers'. It was a humbling experience and we are extremely proud to have been part of this project that will no doubt have a massive positive outcome on some of our less fortunate youth.”
The 2016 competition, with the theme of ‘A Taste of South Africa!’ will launch at the end of February 2016 and book collections will begin in March/April.
