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SAVE Foundation supports children in Cape Town through educational activities, mentorship and safe learning environments that encourage confidence, creativity and personal growth. In Cape Town, children can grow up only a few kilometres apart yet face very different opportunities. In under-resourced communities, schools and Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres often operate with limited funding, which can mean fewer learning materials, fewer extracurricular activities and less access to safe, supportive spaces outside school hours. For some families, even providing a reliable daily meal can be a challenge.
In early 2026, a fire devastated Harare Kidz in Dunoon, one of the ECD centres supported by SAVE Foundation. Classrooms were damaged, equipment was lost, and years of hard work disappeared overnight. As the community and SAVE Foundation helped rebuild the centre, the incident highlighted the urgent need for fire safety and emergency preparedness in informal schools built from timber, zinc, and other vulnerable materials. Find out more.
Before you can help a community, you have to understand it. Not the version from a car window, the real one. Dunoon sits pressed between the N7 highway, industrial land, and farmland about 20 kilometres north of Cape Town’s city centre. From a car passing on the highway it reads as a dense grid of zinc rooftops. From the inside, it is something far more complex: a community of tens of thousands of people navigating extraordinary pressure with extraordinary resilience.Before meaningful support can happen, a community needs to be understood beyond surface impressions.
The First Five Years: Why ECD Centres Are the Most Important Classrooms in South Africa
There is a window. Neuroscientists call it the critical period. In plain terms: the brain of a child between birth and age five is building the architecture that will govern how they learn, relate to others, manage emotions, and navigate complexity for the rest of their lives. Miss that window, and the cost is paid for decades.
Sport, delivered the right way, addresses both lists at once. Not as a distraction, as a genuine developmental tool. The research backs it up. And SAVE’s experience on the ground confirms it every week.
The Financial Impact SAVE Foundation has made on Cape Town Schools
SAVE currently supports five ECD centres in Dunoon and the surrounding Northern Suburbs. Find Out More here
New program: Namibia and Botswana Conservation Project
We are thrilled to announce the launch of two new conservation projects, offering volunteers the chance to make a meaningful impact in Botswana and Namibia.
Aksel Memorial Clinic
Aksel Otterbeck was a Swedish volunteer working with the SAVE Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa. In December 2016 Aksel tragically passed away after being hit by a drunk driver in a residential area of Cape Town.
In memory of Aksel, his friends and relatives raised money to build a free health clinic in Wolwerivier (a small community outside Cape Town), in partnership with the SAVE Foundation.
Christmas for the kids - 2023
During festive season in 2023, we embarked on a heartwarming mission to bring the magic of Christmas to children who may not otherwise experience its joy and wonder. We once again hosted a memorable Christmas celebration, ensuring that 1000 children were treated to a holiday experience they would never forget.
Skate ramp for Adventure Club
Through the work of our amazing volunteers and donors the Adventure Surf Programme raised funds to build a Skate Ramp for the kids.
