TFMC brings joy to underprivileged school children.

For the past four years, TFMC has sponsored the annual Rally to Read Literary Development Programme, bringing joy to hundreds of children around the country.

TFMC partnered with McCarthy and Financial Mail in this year's  campaign, sponsoring a total amount of R120 000 in this worthy cause.

Since its inception in 1998, the Rally to Read Literary Development Programme has invested some R26 million in a concerted effort to improve the quality of education in the remote, rural schools of eight provinces.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Rally to Read initiatives, an important milestone in the life of this significantly-valuable educational partnership.

Each weekend during the month of May every year, supporters of Rally to Read depart from the major cities, in off-road vehicles, on their mission to deliver educational material to some of the most neglected schools in the country. During these visits, the Rally to Read participants meet and interact with learners and teachers who benefit from the books and follow-up professional development, which is provided for a further three years by the READ Educational Trust.

The educators, learners and parents look forward to this exhilarating event, which has yielded positive results in each of the schools visited.

Education is one of TFMC's  primary socio-economic development programmes, especially in the remote rural areas. We began our sponsorship involvement with the campaign four years ago and intend to take it a lot further, says Maud Poopedi, head of Corporate Social Initiatives at TFMC.

There were nine rallies scheduled this year and TFMC took part in six that were held in the Free State, North West, KwaZulu-Natal North, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

TFMC believes that education is important and needs more initiatives like this to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. "Education provides communities with the ability to deal with other societal ills," says Maud, "and become self-sustaining citizens,".

There is an enormous need for educational material in rural and disadvantaged schools, and TFMC is proud to be part of this event. Maud maintains that this experience provides the opportunity for increased understanding and insight into rural, traditional culture and life, as well as developmental needs.