Athlone School for the Blind seeks donors

The beneficiaries of the school are the learners, youths and adults who are disabled and who come from historically disadvantaged communities regarded as a severely marginalised minority demographic group.

There is a need to broaden the skills base for learners and the Radio Horizon Project has been identified as being just one way of improving skills and access to employment for them. Fundraisers have been appointed, as well as radio experts to assist in setting up a website with audio streaming that can be accessed by any sight-impaired individual both here in South Africa and anywhere on the continent.

ICASA approached

ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) is being approached to provide a licence for a medium wave frequency to broadcast Radio Horizon in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, which can be extended to a digital frequency as soon as they become available to enable a truly national coverage.

The station will be streamed on the Internet, thereby allowing international access to all sight-impaired individuals. This will be the Voice of the Disabled in South Africa and eventually the whole African continent.

The learners will be trained to become sound recordists, programmers, producers, technicians, presenters, voice-over artists, script writers, operators and editors. On the web side they will become web designers, digital media specialists, software developers and web copywriters, web optimisation developers and so on.

Sound studio ready for use

Athlone School for the Blind already has a sound studio designed and ready for use and this needs only limited augmentation to turn it into a fully fledged broadcast suite. Ongoing funding is vital for the provision of the equipment and facilities and the day-to-day running of the station. A sum of R2.293 million in capex is required for the project to happen and, thereafter, an annual sum of R1.3 million will be needed to maintain its progress.

Platinum and Diamond

The intention is to sell airtime and sponsorships as an ongoing facility to assist in making Radio Horizon self-sustaining. Founding Donors who will receive on going recognition both on the web site and on Radio Horizon are sought. An initial amount of R114 650 and an annual renewal fee of R65 000 will purchase Founding Donor Platinum status. You will become one of around 20 such organisations.

If you can assist with a figure in excess of the above amounts you will be granted Diamond status. In return you will receive extra recognition for your generous efforts.

Diamond status provides regular monthly banner acknowledgment on the web site and six daily acknowledgments on the radio station. You will also be acknowledged on all corporate stationery of Radio Horizon and the web site.

There will be:

• A link from the website to your website
  
• Invitations to all functions pertaining to the radio station and website (launches, prize-givings,
  graduations etc.)
  
• A monthly news letter keeping you abreast of developments at the station and on the web site
  
• Platinum status providing Home Page positioning of your sponsorship on the website
  
• Three daily acknowledgements on the radio station
  
• A monthly newsletter keeping you abreast of developments.

There will be other incentives, such as cost-effective radio spot production and various design and web design projects at very favourable rates to our Diamond and Platinum donors.

This is an extremely important opportunity for you to make a significant difference in employment and skills transference opportunities for the South African disabled community. At Athlone School for the Blind we have learners with sight impairment, intellectual disability and physical disability. We need to provide them with a platform to enter an industry where such disabilities are no longer a barrier to them finding gainful employment.

For further information contact Mike Westcott, project manager +27 (0) 82 443 3877, or Nigel Hope, project assistant manager +27 (0) 73 135 3605 .