The winning bid for the three artworks came from KHS, a global leader in the filling and packaging industry who have been supplying SAB with their technologically advanced packaging and filling equipment for many years. 

Consol Glass, a division of Consol Limited,  made a significant donation to the Race Against Time. Consol Glass has become a significant player in the world of international glass packaging and has operations located at Clayville (Midrand), Wadeville (Germiston), Bellville (Cape Town) and Pretoria. All of SAB's glass bottles are supplied by Consol, need I say more!

The Bead4Need Race Against Time also received donations from Krones, Mandla Chem and JohnsonDiversy. All of these companies not only provide an excellent service to SAB but are really committed to the needs of the many less fortunate South African's. I can assure you that your generous donations will go a long way to making a sustainable difference in South Africa through the CIDA City Campus the beneficiary of the Bead4Need Race Against Time.

Finally I must say thank you to Mike Stopforth, the primary inspiration behind the Bead4Need Race Against Time. Thanks to all Mike's technical support, word spreading and generally being an awesome South African this project was a huge success. The Bead4Need team came 3rd overall, however the real big news is that in total the six 2006 SAB Management Development Programme teams raised in excess of R400 000 for various charity organisations in South Africa!

Today we received a donation from the Group 4 Securicor. Thanks a million guys we really appreciate it. Group 4 Securicor plc is a leading international security services company operating in some 100 countries around the world with over 400,000 employees. The company operates in three key sectors: Security Services (including Manned Security and Justice Services), Security Systems and Cash Services. Many of the SAB breweries and depots in South Africa utilise the services of this world class company.

As I said, the word is spreading and our "Race against Time" initiative has been mentioned on quite a few other blogsites such as Cherryflava, the top blogsite in South Africa. To quote "Cherryflava is a web magazine dedicated to hot new trends emerging in business, marketing, advertising and fresh thinking that's igniting a creative revolution – published daily from Cape Town. We even got a mention on Derek "The Bandit's" Blog which is really awesome. Derick is one of the top DJ's in SA, gauranteed to get any gig PUMPING!

To top it all Dave Duarte is using the Bead4Need "Race agianst Time" initiative as a case study at BarCamp in Cape Town this Friday.

That's it for tonight, keep spreading the word and get those bids in, it sure is for a good cause!

The Bead4Need Team are into their third week of the MDP Programme, just over half way. What a blast! We have been exposed to some of the most influential people and lecturers not only in South Africa but in the world. It hasn't been one big party though, many nights the team has been hard at work late into the night and on more than a few occasions early into the following morning. No one said it would be easy.

On top of all this we have been continuing with our adventure into the realm of Viral Marketing and using the internet as an effective tool to spread the word about our Bead4Need Race against Time. It hasn’t been as slick we thought it would be. I was really chuffed to see the controls that eBay has in place to prevent the abuse of this global market place by unscrupulous people claiming to raise funds for charity organisations when they are really intending to line their own pockets.

eBay require articles placed on the site to be backed up by scanned signed letters from the respective charity organisations for which the funds are being raised. When you visit our artwork auction sites; Empathy, Dignity and Hope you will see the letter from CIDA City Campus next to each artwork.

We were in the process of setting up the eBay site when we discovered this requirement. What a nightmare! Luckily after a number of frantic phone calls, Kerrin Myres of CIDA City Campus Fund Raising Committee got everything through to us just in time. Thanks Kerrin!

The other challenge we have been confronted with has been getting the world to know about our fund raising effort. There are millions of blogsites out there we are but one of them. Clive Simpkins’ blogsite was one of the first we commented on. He didn't even respond to our comment which was unfortunate. Another avenue we are pushing is Jeremy Mags' Sunday morning radio programme “Media @ SAFM”. This is an awesome radio show on media and marketing in South Africa. If you are into this sort thing, tune in, it is really interesting stuff. We again have had no response from him, but are still holding thumbs.

We have only got 4 days to go and then the auction will be over. So far no bids yet, come on people if some kid in the states can raise over a million dollars for himself through the Million Dollar Homepage (www.milliondollarhomepage.com) surely we can raise just $10000 dollars for a the disenfranchised people of Southern Africa and give them a future, a real future in which they are independent and not living from hand to mouth dependant on handouts.

It's time to place your bid and have your corporate logo or individual name added on this site. 
Here are the links: 

"Dignity" on eBay 

"Empathy" on eBay

"Hope" on eBay 

"Dignity", "Empathy" and "Hope" will be auctioned on eBay. As soon as they are listed (in the next day or two)you will hear it from us I promise. We look forward to your support of a really worthy cause.

 Cheers from The Bead4Need team!

“And you run and you run to catch up with sun, but it’s sinking

Racing around to come up behind you again.

The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.”

This is the situation that many people in Southern Africa find themselves in. A constant struggle to survive, to fend off illness, to improve their quality of life, a struggle to get a break to create a sustainable form of income for themselves, their families and their communities against all odds. The disenfranchised people of Southern Africa are desperately seeking Dignity, Empathy and Hope.

The Bead4Need Team is a group of young dynamic business leaders in the corporate environment that want to make a difference in the lives of many Southern Africans. Ian, Navin, Fenias, Roger, AK and Gerrit are in a similar struggle, a race against the sun, against time.

The Bead4Need Race against Time has one simple objective, “To raise $10,000 before 16 June 2006”. Every last cent of this money will be channelled into The CIDA City Campus that aspires to making a sustainable difference in the lives of the disenfranchised people in Southern Africa.

What’s in it for the Bead4Need Team you may well ask? It’s simple, they are a team in an Apprentice Challenge as part of their Leadership Development Experience. The team wants to be the top of their class and realised that just making money is not what it’s all about. They have a golden opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of many less fortunate than themselves and they want to invite you to be part of this success.

Three beaded artworks, Dignity, Empathy and Hope have been commissioned and are to be auctioned on eBay from Thursday 8 June 2006 until Wednesday 14 June 2006. To add to the excitement that has been created around this project, The South African Breweries Ltd has agreed to double the amount of money raised by the Bead4Need Race against Time. A truly generous commitment from a company that understands the needs of people in Southern Africa and is committed to sustainable Corporate Social Investment.

Regular updates are being posted featuring the current bid price for “Empathy, Hope and Dignity” and the involvement of corporate entities in the Race.

All corporate companies who confirm their bid with us will be included in the Blog updates with links to their respective internet sites.

The Bead4Need Team – From top clockwise, Fineas, Navin, Gerrit, AK, Ian, Roger.