"The primary aim of the project is to increase
literacy in South Africa, through the improved
teaching and learning of English, that will be
achieved by partnering universities, primary schools
and other organisations. The secondary aim is to
provide a platform to celebrate South Africa's
eleven national languages, through free interactive
software and printable calendar charts."
On Saturday, 30 January
2010, in front of 120 delegates at the NAPTOSA-organised
THRASS Accredited Certificate course, University of
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Nic Young was presented
with a farewell gift and card (signed by all the
delegates), by Alan and Hilary Davies, to say a big
THANKS for all the hard work and effort that Nic had
put into establishing and managing the THRASS Absa
TalkTogether Project (from when Nic first sent Alan
an email in 2007). Nic and his wife, Tess, also
attended a dinner in the evening, at a well-known
restaurant in Nelson Mandela Square, which was
attended by various people involved in the project
(though this was a complete surprise to Nic and Tess,
as they had been led to believe that they were
having dinner with just Alan and Hilary!).
With Nic’s help, there
are now six universities in South Africa involved in
the project. In the project, hundreds of student
teachers each year receive THRASS training and
resources – and they also attend a Move-A-Long with
Sing-A-Long workshop presented by South African
author Janine Plunkett.
Nic is now working for a
different bank, based in Johannesburg, where he will
have Africa-wide responsibilities, involving him
travelling to and fro from many different countries
on the African continent. We will miss his
personality, drive and expertise.
Dr Paul Bayliss,
Manager: Corporate Social Investment, Absa
Foundation, will now manage the THRASS Absa
TalkTogether Project. Paul has been very much
involved in the project from the outset and we very
much look forward to working with him, as he
maintains and develops the project for Absa.
THRASS
Absa TalkTogether Project
launched in July 2007
Success of the Programme to date can be seen by the
number of Press Releases and Articles written about
the project and the bottom line the children who are
benefiting!
