(From left) Melanie du Plessis (founding director of Reach Out), Cassy Fourie (Liberty Midlands Mall centre manager), Alpha Shelembe (Ward 18 councillor) & Thea Marx (general manager of Liberty Properties Coastal Portfolio) at the sod-turning ceremony that took place in France just outside of Pietermaritzburg yesterday to mark the start of the construction for a new Drop-In Community Centre.

The centre will serve the needs of the many children from child-headed households in France. It will comprise a community room where meals will be served and homework supervised, a reception area, a Child Advocacy Centre, a social worker’s office, a laundry, a kitchen where meals will be prepared, an outside play area, and a clinic serviced by the Health Department on a monthly basis.