Being involved in the community is very important to Hermanus Times.
So says the newspaper’s editor, Mariëtte Strydom, in the aftermath of its winning the AVBOB Best Community Involvement Award at the AVBOB FCJ Excellence Awards recently.
Last year, with local residents, it collected goods for refugees in Bredasdorp, which included a truckload of kitchenware, linen and other necessities.
However, it’s the love box project at Nomzamo Education Centre in Zwelihle that showed Hermanus is a caring town. In no time Christmas presents were collected for the children and even teachers. The handover day was full of fun and enjoyment, with boerewors rolls, entertainment for the little ones and Santa appearing on a fire truck.
The project garnered Hermanus Times the AVBOB Best Community Involvement Award. The AVBOB FCJ Excellence Awards, hosted by the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ), took place in Cape Town this year, on 4 August at the Cape Sun Hotel. Addressing this well-known event in the local media industry AVBOB CEO Carl van der Riet said: “As a business AVBOB is deeply rooted in, and connected to, the communities in which we operate. This is reflected in our support for community journalism. We applaud the work you do to keep our communities informed and empowered with information. Your work is an essential contribution to the building of a transparent and free society.”
Strydom also came second in the Human Interest category and was in the top 10 under Editorial Comment. Mitzi Buys, freelance journalist of Hermanus Times, was also mentioned in the General Photography category, while Taylum Meyer, Acting Editor of The Village News, also took second place in the General Photography Category.. Hermanus Times would like to give Nomzamo’s building a new look by painting it. The bathrooms also need renovating, and anyone who would like to donate old paint can drop it off at Hermanus Times at the Birkenhead building in Main Street.
