Design26 Foundation Buy a Brick Campaign

Following the successful acquisition of a parcel of land earlier this year, the Design26 Foundation has launched a buy-a-brick campaign to help fund the construction of a community skills centre.

Facilitated by Design26 Foundation, the campaign’s goal is to raise the funds needed to build a sewing skills training centre in Harmony Village.

Founded by local designer Suraya Williams (46), the Design26 Foundation aims to empower young women in the greater Mitchell’s Plain area to become financially self-sufficient.

Williams rediscovered her gift and passion for sewing and design after her mother’s passing on her birthday. In 2018, she founded the Design26 Foundation to provide skills, work opportunities and a positive outlook to young women in the community.

“The lack of job opportunities and the prevalence of drugs, alcohol and abuse can make it difficult for young women to see a positive future,” Williams says.

“The Design26 Foundation aims to break this cycle by providing training and employment opportunities to young women in our community.”

The centre will be built on a parcel of land previously owned by the City of Cape Town. It was officially transferred to the foundation at the end of January.

“After starting the sewing skills training out of my garage in 2018, we quickly ran out of space and did not anticipate the huge interest in sewing, but I knew there was a great need for skills development and employment in the Mitchell’s Plain community. In 2019, I started utilising free space in a separate entrance on my home property, but that also became too small very quickly as the need and number of interested young women just grew. I then decided to seek viable land or premises where we could expand and accommodate more applicants. This was a very tedious process. Finally, after following all the processes and procedures to buy land from the City, the sale agreement came to fruition on Thursday 26 January,” says Williams.