In celebration of its 20th successful year of trading, Coventry-based HydroGarden Wholesale Supplies Ltd, has embarked on a long term sponsorship of Zuuranys Primêr, a primary school near Kareedouw, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. HydroGarden employee Daniel van Straaten approached the board of directors on behalf of the school where his mother is the principal to find out if they could offer any support.

The school’s first request was for HydroGarden to buy stationery for the children to use during their lessons. This has now arrived at the school and the teachers are thinking about how another £1,000 in sponsorship could be used in other ways to support the children.

In the South African education system the schools are classed in different categories and Zuuranys is in one of the poorest categories which means the pupils do not pay any school fees. It receives just £4 per year per pupil from the Government which is not enough to cover all the expenses. It supplements its funding with donations from local businesses, farm owners and the teachers themselves make donations.

HydroGarden is an inventor, manufacturer and distributor of specialist hydroponic equipment in the UK and internationally. Some of its innovations including its vertical hydroponic farming system, VydroFarm, and its aquaponics system, FishPlant, are being used for educating young people in the UK about alternative ways of producing food.

HydroGarden director, Jonathan Aldridge, spoke about the sponsorship: “It’s always particularly fitting for us to support charitable projects that are linked to our staff members, so when Daniel told us about his mother heading up the school in South Africa we were naturally interested in finding out more about what we could do to help. We are keen establish on ongoing relationship with Zuuranys Primêr so that we can make a real difference to the quality of the resources the School will have to use during lessons and the other activities the children have the opportunity to enjoy.”