Joyful carols, the wrinkling of wrapping paper, the tapping of dancing feet, the crackle of the braai – these are all the sounds of Christmas we love.

And to share the magic of the festive season, Woolworths, with the support of its customers, is giving the gift of hearing to 200 children who currently have repairable hearing loss.

Woolworths and MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet have teamed up with the Red Cross Children’s Hospital and The Children’s Hospital Trust to cover the costs of fitting these children with hearing aids. A further 3000 children will be screened to detect and treat auditory problems early, preventing delays in their development and often ensuring full recovery.

Every time a customer swipes their card between 5 November and 24 December, Woolworths will make an additional contribution to this great cause.

Helene Brandt, Marketing Manager of MySchool, says: “Every day in South Africa, about 17 infants are born with, or will develop, hearing loss. However, a new programme has been launched to introduce speech-language therapy and audiology services for children at all levels of the District Health System in the Western Cape.  Simply by swiping their cards, shoppers can support this wonderful initiative and help give the priceless gift of hearing.”

If you’d like to easily make a difference, all you need do is to use your MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card or linked Woolies card over the festive period – and a percentage of your purchase will go towards this excellent cause, without any extra cost to you.

Editor’s notes

MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet

This is one of South Africa's biggest fundraising programmes and allows customers to
make a difference, just by shopping. Every time they swipe a card at any of the 12 national or numerous local partners, they make a donation, on the shopper’s behalf. The organisation raises over R4 million a month. To find out more and apply for a card see http://www.myschool.co.za.

Speech-language deficits are the most common of childhood disabilities and affect about 1 in 12 pre-school children. If the deficiencies remain undetected and untreated, this can show in long-term behavioural challenges, mental health problems, reading difficulties and academic setbacks. If detected and treated early, between birth and 36 months, delays in children’s development can be prevented and full recovery is often possible.

Children’s Hospital Trust, Western Cape Government, Carel du Toit Centre.

A new initiative has been launched to introduce speech-language therapy and audiology services for children at all levels of the District Health System in the Western Cape.  The programme is being piloted in the Mitchell’s Plain health sub-district for two and a half years and will then be rolled out across the province. It was developed last year for the Western Cape Provincial Government, and will be managed, by the Carel du Toit Centre, a Tygerberg Hospital-based NGO established in 1973 with a focus on early childhood development, education and health. The Children’s Hospital Trust, which fundraises for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and paediatric healthcare in the Western Cape, aims to raise a total of R3 million for this project.