Gumboots - Phetoho Project

Gumboots is a small UK-registered charity that works in South Africa, mainly with disadvantaged children. It concentrates on supporting and strengthening home grown projects with local leadership. Central to Gumboots' philosophy is the belief that education is one of the most effective ways of bringing about change in South Africa and providing individuals with a route out of poverty. They hope that if promising children can be helped to develop they will be more able and more likely, later in life, to use their skills and personal resources to be agents for change in their communities.


Although all children have access to schooling in South Africa, the quality of education available to township children tends to be much lower than that available to children in more affluent areas. In the Phetoho project Gumboots identifies poor but gifted children in Alexandra township, and gives their education a significant boost.


It works by funding a child for 3 years to go through a Saturday and school holiday programme at St. Mary’s School in Johannesburg. St Mary's has already been running this kind of programme for 24 years and achieved some outstanding results. The aim is to get the children into higher education and University. It costs about £250 to fund a child for each year of the programme.