Last week Durban’s Qalakahle Crèche was officially launched with an opening event attended by the sponsors and supporters that helped the new facility come to fruition.

The community project saw several local construction companies work together free of charge to build the crèche. Ocean Architects designed the new building and they in turn brought in Flowcrete South Africa, as the two companies have a history of successful partnerships.

The collaborative charity group We are Durban spearheaded the project when the previous crèche, which cared for the disadvantaged children of traders at the Mansel Market when their parents were working, was designated as unsafe and condemned by the health department.

After securing both land and sponsors for the Qalakahle Crèche the team of charity workers, builders, suppliers and architects set to work constructing the new facility.

The project spanned 18 months in total and the end result is an inviting and inspirational building that has been fully approved by the health department. Up to 80 children can now be looked after in a safe, engaging and well-resourced environment.

Several high profile guest speakers attended the prestigious opening ceremony, including First Lady Madame Thobeka Madiba-Zuma and Durban’s Deputy Mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala as well as Vivian Reddy from the Afrisun Community Development Trust, which donated R1 million for the project as well as R150, 000 in equipment.

Verity King, Flowcrete South Africa’s Marketing Manager, who was at the opening event said:

Making a small contribution has resulted in a safer environment for young children to learn and to be looked after whilst their parents are working, hopefully resulting in better futures for all of them.

Flowcrete SA was thrilled to be able to assist by donating several specialist resin systems for the Qalakahle Crèche’s internal floor finishes.

In order to achieve an easy to clean and attractive appearance, the high performance epoxy primer Flowprime and the hard wearing, self-smoothing epoxy floor finish Flowshield SL 1000 was applied throughout the crèche.