Supporting 1,500 Children in 26 Rural Communities

The Anna Foundation has been a registered non-profit organisation since 2005 and has been working on farms in the Western Cape since 2007.

WHO WE ARE

We Empower Women and Children Through Education, Sport and Life Skills

The Anna Foundation is an NPO that provides after-school programmes in rural areas. The goal is to further support the academic, sporting and life skills of students aged 5 to 18. The Anna Foundation also empowers women in the communities with training and employment.

LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING

Our Story

The Anna Foundation was started in July 2005 by Anna Brom, who was volunteering as a remedial teacher at a disadvantaged farm and township school in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Remedial education at these schools largely involved teaching basic literacy (i.e. reading and writing). A large number of learners, aged 15–17 years, who were still attending primary school, were identified as unable to read at the level of an average 9-year-old child. Sadly, this inability to progress came down to a lack of support for students with learning barriers.

Anna saw the need for greater support in isolated and underprivileged schools. Challenges faced by these schools include overcrowded classrooms, limited educational resources, lack of library facilities, language constraints, isolated geographical locations and poor transport availability. The Anna Foundation was created to fill a gap and provide support for rural children in a safe, stimulating after-school environment.

Bit by bit, Anna filled gaps she’d noticed, from bringing in books to ignite a love for reading to starting a running club to encourage activity in the children. These reading and running activities were then combined and became the start of the Anna Foundation’s 3Rs programme, namely Reading, Running and Right-ing. Since then, the 3Rs programme has been consistently implemented on farms and in rural schools throughout the Western Cape. Local women from these rural communities are trained in the 3 Rs programme and are responsible for implementing it daily. The Anna Foundation has been a registered non-profit organisation since 2005 and has been working on farms in the Western Cape since 2007.

2005 Anna Foundation was founded by Anna Brom and the 3 Rs programme began.
2007 Partnered with our first farm in the Western Cape
2009 Launch of the 4th R - Riding, the cycling initiative of the programme
2010 Celebrated our five-year birthday with a total of 10 farm projects on board
2012 Expansion of the programme into the Langeberg region
2014 Partnership with the Absa Cape Epic began
2015 Celebrated our 10-year birthday, now with 15 projects on board and 3 rural schools
2017 Expansion into the Nuy Valley and Rawsonville regions
2020 Online support and interactive teaching via WhatsApp as Covid-19 impacted operations
2022 Expansion into the Elgin Valley
2024 Still growing with 23 projects and 4 rural schools operating across the Western Cape
2025 Celebrating 20 years of making a difference in rural communities!

VISION, MISSION & VALUES

Get to Know The Heart Behind Anna Foundation

OUR MISSION

We partner with farms or schools in rural areas to offer additional support to school children. By investing in their academic, sporting and life skills development, we aim to uplift and empower the future generation. Women in these communities are trained and employed to teach the programmes we develop.

OUR VISION

Our vision is to see women and children from disadvantaged communities develop confidence, pride and ambitions, beyond what their rural environments restrict them to.

OUR VALUES

Every child deserves the chance to learn, grow, and reach their full potential.
We lead with care, dignity, and respect for every child, family, and community we serve.
We strive to deliver high-quality programmes that create meaningful and sustainable outcomes.
We believe meaningful change is created together.

WHERE WE OPERATE

Find Out Where Our Impact Begins

We focus on making a real difference in the lives of children and women in rural Western Cape communities and farms.

WHY WE DO THIS WORK

Our Impact Changes Lives

Years Active

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Children Through Our Programmes

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Women Trained Over 20 Years

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Bikes made available to children through the programmes

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Testimonials

Children

When I climbed on a bike the first time, I felt nervous and a little bit scared. I even fell the first time, but now I can easily ride a bicycle and I enjoy it.

Lemeez, 7, Neethlingshof after-school

The after-school is the best place for me to learn. At home there are too many people, this is the only place where I can learn.

Dominique, 18, Dennegeur after-school

Facilitators

The Anna Foundation keeps the children out of trouble and parents don’t have to worry about what their children are up to while they work. It really makes a big difference.

Marilene de Wet, Facilitator Leipzig Primary

When a child comes to you the first day, you teach him about love. Because if a child has love, you can see the child grow and he knows when he comes here, he gets love.

Maria Snyders Facilitator Graham Beck after school

Clients

We extend our sincere appreciation to the Anna Foundation for their invaluable work in empowering and uplifting underprivileged children in our community. Their dedication, commitment, and holistic approach continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of many families, not only within the Fairhills project but throughout Rawsonville as a whole.

Myrna Hoffman, Fairhills Association

What started as a dream to ride the Cape Epic became an opportunity to help create brighter futures for children in the Western Cape. Driven by our faith, we believe it is important to share and support others wherever we can. That is why, at the beginning of 2025, we decided to commit to supporting the Anna Foundation financially for the long term. By doing so, we aim to contribute to the growth of their projects, support their dedicated team, and ultimately help create better opportunities for the children — giving them the attention and care they truly deserve.

Arjen van Dijk, Founder & Owner of DPX Power

“Anna Foundation is one of our longest-standing Official Development Partners at the Absa Cape Epic, and a partnership we are incredibly proud of. As a proudly South African event within the IRONMAN Group, it’s deeply important to us to invest in the communities that shape our race. Over many years, through a range of initiatives - including those driven alongside our IRONMAN Foundation - we’ve seen first-hand the meaningful impact Anna Foundation continues to make at grassroots level, uplifting young lives through sport and creating real, lasting change in our country. We look forward to continuing this journey together, using the power of sport to inspire, uplift, and shape future generations for years to come.”

Shannon Valstar, Race Director, Absa Cape Epic

Together with the Anna Foundation, we have created a safe and highly creative environment for our children to attend after school. The added advantages are twofold: – firstly, it gives more of the mother’s opportunity to work, which brings more money into the families; secondly, the workshops for the parents on how to act in a positive way and encourage their children than rather berate them constantly, has brought about a far better understanding of positive parenting methods. The children love the program and all, with the exception of one child, attend the school out of their own free will and with lots of enthusiasm. My personal highlight was to see a major improvement in our children’s June Exam report cards at the local Waboomsheuwel School. The teachers of this local school are just as excited as we are. They can already see major improvement in our children, especially in their reading capabilities. I believe this will be the foundation in changing the future education of these children.