Woodlands Dairy: A Legacy of Community Upliftment

The Woodlands Dairy sustainability journey has been moving from strength to strength since 2012, driven by our senior management team and backed by our shareholders

The target of this journey has been minimising our impact on the environment, empowering local communities in and around Humansdorp and beyond, as well as ensuring that our internal governance is kept to the highest standard for the good of all Woodlands Dairy the home of First Choice is in full support of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) and, over the past 10 years, we have continued to show our commitment to acting on our promise of improving our sustainability efforts with these goals in mind

Our sustainability initiatives align with the Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) pillars, which helps shape our strategic thinking

Our CSI initiatives form a part of the work we do within our Social pillar, a pillar dedicated to helping and uplifting people, communities and staff through various endeavours

In 2022, we supported 20 different projects in the Kouga region that focused on helping the less fortunate These projects dedicate themselves to educating, feeding, and uplifting the most vulnerable in our communities, and Woodlands supports their efforts through various means Woodlands Dairy hosts the Woodlands Dairy annual Golf Day in aid of St Francis Hospice, which raises funds to support the terminally ill and ensure a better quality of life in their hospice care We supply monthly gro- ceries and milk to multiple projects, including the Shekinah Soup Kitchen and Sewende Laan Soup Kitchen, and support various schools and creches, such as the Madiba Bay Crèche, Angel’s Day Care Centre, Jbay Educare Centre, and the Kate vd Merwe Creche and Pre-Primary We also support established organisations such as SA Child Welfare Humansdorp, and JoyKids International

All our CSI projects are revisited monthly in order to give accurate assessments of their needs so that we can adjust our approach if needed

Every project is reviewed annually, new applications are appraised, and final decisions are made as to their inclusion in our programme Our hands-on approach in this programme allows our dedicated team to serve these organisations and projects to their full potential

Our social endeavours also include the empowerment of individuals in our communities Our learnership programme offers unemployed young adults, 29 and younger, the opportunity to complete a production technology learnership and potentially gain permanent employment in the dairy manufacturing industry We are proud to say we were able to take in 109 learners in 2022

We also have our leadership programme which gives our staff the opportunity to further their education and grow into leadership positions in the company In the same year, we enrolled 10 new learners in NQF4 and NQF5 courses and 20 learners participated in a leadership skills programme that can be bridged into the NQF4 qualification

In 2022, we changed our approach to artisan development and began our apprenticeship programme, which has seen eight new apprentices join our team within the year

This has given us the opportunity to develop skills in our community and create a sustainable pool of qualified artisans in our industry

Beyond these two programmes, Woodlands Dairy has also set aside funds for bursaries in support of females from previously disadvantaged groups to study in the fields of electrical or mechanical engineering, microbiology, and finance

Woodlands Dairy visited schools across the Kouga region to inform the prospective students of this opportunity

Woodlands Dairy the home of First Choice is proud to support all these projects and individuals to create a better life for those most vulnerable in our communities and empower them to create a better future for themselves in the long term We continue to work hard in our drive towards a sustainable world