Ceramics project a positive influence for disabled beneficiaries
Mon, 24 October 2011
'I like doing pottery because I am proud of what I have learned and made. My family is also proud of what I am doing.” Tracey Viljoen, beneficiary
REPORT 4: Irene Homes: A ceramics project for mentally disabled people
Through this project Irene Homes aimed to employ 10 disabled people to assist in the manufacture of ceramic products.
By establishing this safe haven, the Ceramics project has empowered its beneficiaries to contribute to making quality products and improve their self-esteem. It also allowed these individuals to earn an income of their own to supplement their disability grants.
Activities and Impact
While the project was initially designed to provide jobs to 10 people, the increased funding that has been made available allowed the home to extend the project to 12 people at a time. A total of 25 people have received training and worked on the project at some stage, but many of these have chosen to work elsewhere in the protective workshop.
The centre manager has reported that all beneficiaries have grown in self-esteem, and that working on this project has helped them to develop better concentration spans, taught them self-control and discipline and allowed them to develop acceptable work behaviour and respect for the rights of others.
The tactile experience of working with clay and has generally led to improvements in coordination and muscle function. The project has also provided beneficiaries with a place to interact with one another socially and reports indicate that many have become more outgoing and socially confident during their involvement in the ceramics project, which has been a stable, positive influence in their lives.
The project has started to generate some income from the home. It has thus far sold R6 152 worth of products.
Expenditure
The original budget for this project was R151 731. The first tranche payment of R63 250 was made to the Irene Homes in March 2008. This portion was spent according to the grant agreement. Following this, however, Irene Homes received Funding from the National Lottery for the same project. The organisation then negotiated with GreaterCapital to delay the payment of the outstanding amount of R88 481 until after lottery funding had been spent. It was agreed that this amount would be allocated according to the budget outlined below.
| Description | Total Budget (as per budget approved by SASIX) | Total Expenditure to date |
| Stipends 12 Beneficiaries | 12 210 | 12 210 |
| Stipend Project Supervisor | 19 680 | 20 058 |
| Electricity | 18 000 | 18 000 |
| Transport | 3 000 | 2 700 |
| Materials (Clay, glaze, paint, wire etc) | 28 086 | 21 523 |
| Equipment (pug mill and kik wheel) | n/a | 8 380 |
| Admin & Accounting | 3 000 | 3 000 |
| Protective Clothing/ Workstations | 1 500 | 757 |
| Security | 3 000 | 3 000 |
| TOTAL | 88 476 | 89 628 |
There was some unforeseen expenditure on additional pieces of equipment. The home managed to cover these costs by spending less on materials and drawing on other sources of funding.
Challenges
The joint funding of this project by the National Lottery has affected the timelines of this project, which according to the original grant agreement should have been completed in September 2010. Additional funding was, however, necessary for the successful implementation of the project as costs were much higher than initially anticipated by Irene Homes.
While the home has made a few sales of their ceramic products, this has been slower than they had hoped, and the income earned by the project is not enough to cover the costs of running the project yet.
Conclusion
The costs associated with this project have been higher than initially estimated by Irene Homes. The organisation was fortunate in that it received lottery funding to make up the shortfall so that it could still go ahead with implementing this project. The project has started to earn a small income for the home. Recently, the home has been given the opportunity to sell their products through a new gift store that has opened in a busy shopping centre in Pretoria. It is hoped that this new opportunity will lead to increased demand for products from the project, thus increasing the income earned by the home.
