Laughter and joy filled the air as Gordon’s Bay police’s Spiritual Crime Prevention Unit treated children of Goeie Hoop Child and Youth Centre in Firlands to a special day of festivities last Friday (5 December).
The fun day was held at the centre, a place of safety that provides care and protection according to the Children’s Act 38 of 2005.
Children placed at the facility are in need of care and protection as a result of home circumstances that are not conducive to their well-being. They have either experienced some form of abuse or neglect.
The centre cares for children aged two to 18, hopefully until their family’s circumstances improve.
The special day was made possible through community fundraising efforts during the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children.
The unit, led by Sergeant Jermaine Naidoo, held two awareness events in November, including a prayer walk from Rooiplein to Bikini Beach and a gender-based violence awareness day where boerewors rolls were sold to raise funds, raising about R3 000 to make the celebration possible.
The children were allowed to simply be children, playing on a slip-and-slide and jumping castle. They feasted on pizza and sweet treats, which allowed them to go “sugar crazy”, and topped it off with cake.
The children’s excitement was evident throughout the day, one girl describing how much fun she had on the jumping castle and slide. Another child expressed how the police officers felt “almost like family because of the love they showed us”.
For Naidoo the day achieved its core purpose:
This initiative was to show the children they are not alone and they have people who care about them.
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