Stewarts & Lloyds Group Directors Derek Franks and Graham Thomas,
together with Vicky Dockray at the
Break The Cycle event with representatives from the 3 charities.
#BreakTheCycle #MenOfSteel Charity Drive
Violence against women and children is a very profound and widespread problem- especially in South Africa.
Stewarts & Lloyds as a whole (but the men of the company in particular) stand together to beat the scourge that is the abuse.
That is why, this year, we have chosen to take a real stand against GBV and raise money for the Frida Hartley Shelter (FHS) in Yeoville, Johannesburg , the National Shelter Movement of South Africa and NISAA Institute for Women’s Development.
These wonderful charities do all the groundwork and work tirelessly to save vulnerable women and their children from abusive and dangerous situations, giving them a temporary safe place to call home, empowering them and training them up for better work opportunities so they can stand on their own feet and be empowered.
Stewarts & Lloyds has a long history of serving the community when it comes to the steel, irrigation and construction sectors among others since 1903- an as a mostly male-dominated sector- we feel we need to be at the forefront of taking a stand against women and child abuse.
Starting at home, we need to foster a safe environment for our children. It’s been proven that childhood exposure to violence and trauma is linked to men’s use of violence against their partners.
Therefore, in 2022, Stewarts & Lloyds selected a female cyclist, Vicky Dockray, who was up for the challenge and has a heart for charity, to take on a 1100km ride, from Madrid to Lisbon – including 18000mt of elevation. Taking on such a monumental feat, the challenge was put forward to raise a much money as was possible to donate towards these charities and put a stop to GBV! Stewarts & Lloyds reached out to the suppliers and contacts and an astonishing R330 000 was raised in this campaign, R110 000 going to each of the 3 charities. The campaign was such a success thanks to the multiple donors and companies that came on board, to mention a few we had Nedbank, Pro Roof, Hero Roto, 4FiftySports, Vansan, Augusta Steel, Bidvest Protea Coin, Masslift Africa, Engineering News, Hot 102.7, 90.6 FM, and Caxton Local Newspapers to name a few!!
On the 11th of August 2022, Stewarts & Lloyds hosted a handover event at the Head Office premises, in Bedfordview, with all the charity representatives in attendance as well as all the sponsors. Everyone had a fantastic time, charities sharing some information on what they do, sponsors being able to meet the recipients and Johnny Koen who is a road racing cyclist from South Africa, active between 1987 and 1990, was the MC for the event and made it all come together beautifully.
Thanks to every single company and person who contributed to this initiative and thank you to Vicky for putting herself through the rigorous challenge and completing it! We are very proud to be able to make these donations for such worthy charities- in the hopes that more women will have a safe refuge from abuse!
Break the Cycle
Cycling for Women Empowerment
The Stewarts & Lloyds 'Men of Steel' are making our effort, at the forefront of the fight against women and child abuse !
Violence against women and children is a very profound and widespread problem- especially in South Africa.
Stewarts & Lloyds as a whole (but the men of the company in particular) stand together to beat the scourge that is the abuse.
That is why, this year, we have chosen to take a real stand and raise money for the Frida Hartley Shelter (FHS) in Yeoville, Johannesburg and have now further extended this campaign to include a donation for the National Shelter Movement of South Africa.
The Frida Hartley Shelter takes in homeless women and their children who have endured neglect, abuse, trauma and homelessness while the National Shelter Movement of South Africa is an umbrella organisation of 96 shelters across South Africa – helping women and children escape abusive situations.
Who is Vicky Dockray?
Meet Vicky Dockray from Ovakado, a seasoned cyclist who has a cycled thousands of kilometres.
In 2016 she completed the Tour of Good Hope. She describes her ride as a challenging but rewarding one “I rode a 10 speed Merida Scultura, I loved this bike. 6168mt of climbing, 522kms over 5 days. We ended the Friday, and I rode the Argus on the Sunday.”
In 2018 Vicky completed the Alpine Tour . Vicky shared her experience of the ride with us saying : “What an unforgettable experience to ride some of the renowned Tour de France climbs during this tour, like Alpe De Huez, Col du Galibier, and the Col de la Madeleine to name a few.
I never had to talk, motivate and threaten myself so much up some of those climbs and had to face my fear of downhills … one way up and one way down.
Was privileged to have a very brief snippet of the Tour de France cyclist flying pass.
I experienced the beauty of kinship between woman and the Power of I.”
In 2019 Vicky took on yet another feat- Germiston, Jhb to Maputo 685km in 4 days! The wind was strong yet she managed to conquer the distance and even though the tour took 2 hours longer than what the group she rode with did the year before, they conquered the challenge in style.
2020 was a year that most spent on their couch, but Vicky has a heart for charity and took on the 360km Ultra on a MTB! She says “During the lockdown I raced for 16hr47 on a stationary bike on Zwift. 360kms and 6813mt of climbing!!
It was for a good cause, to raise money for people that had no means to buy food as they had no income because of Covid 19.
The race started at 15h00 on a Friday, mine started at 15h20 as my Zwift/Laptop/KickR had a glitch and I had to restart 3 times. I stopped halfway to quickly change clothes and jumped back on, I finished the race 3rd lady in, at 07:47am the next morning.”
Vicky will ride to raise funds for the National Shelter Movement (NSM) and for the Frida Hartley Shelter!
Vicky will ride in the name of Stewarts & Lloyds at the cycle from Spain to Portugal in 9 days, 1100km with 18000mt of climbing. The Madrid to Lisbon Road Bike Tour.
This will be her toughest challenge thus far!!
The race is due to start on the 01st of July and will end of the 09th of July 2022. Vicky is passionate about women empowerment and her goal is to raise money for The Frida Hartley Shelter (FHS) for destitute women and children who are committed to helping homeless women and children who have survived neglect, abuse and trauma.
The goal was originally to raise R110 000 – R10 per km, but now we have more than doubled this original goal and have raised over R255 000 to help empower and educate vulnerable women, giving both women and their children a future.
The Frida Harley Shelter is turning 100 years old this year as well- and we are excited to come on board and make this initiative possible so that this money can be used to help expand the shelter and help even more women in need!
The National Shelter Movement is a united voice on sheltering for abused women & their children- being an umbrella organisation of 96 shelters across the country. They run a toll free helpline that will help women get out of their abusive situations and guide them to the nearest shelter as well- NATIONAL 24HR TOLL FREE SHELTER HELPLINE 0800 001 005
Keep an eye out on Stewarts & Lloyds’ socials for updates on Vicky’s epic journey.
There are a number of ways in which you can pledge :
1.Make your pledge online by filling in our contact form below
2. Email eveb@sltrading.co.za with your pledge amount and your company/personal details
3. Should you wish to make a payment now as your pledge for this campaign please make a payment to:
Nedbank
Stewarts & Lloyds Holdings
Account Number 128 407 1731
Reference: Cycle + YOUR NAME or YOUR COMPANY NAME
Email proof of payment to eveb@sltrading.co.za
As a token of appreciation, we offer all those companies that pledge towards this cause to feature their logo on our campaign page and we will publish a thank you post on all our social media platforms with links to your company pages.
ABOUT THE RACE
The Frida Hartley Shelter (FHS) for destitute women and children in Yeoville, Johannesburg
The Frida Hartley Shelter (FHS) for destitute women and children in Yeoville, Johannesburg, takes in homeless women and their children who have endured neglect, abuse, trauma and homelessness. We shelter individuals who have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet; young homeless mothers looking to kick-start their lives; and individuals going through financial difficulties (affected by retrenchment or unemployment).
The shelter is a non-profit organisation that aims to empower women through providing accommodation, psycho-social support, employment, and training. FHS also provides nutrition and childcare to the children housed at the shelter with their mother. This allows the mothers the time they need whilst they are job hunting.
The services we offer include, but are not limited to:
- FREE job-skills training
- Accommodation up to 6 months
- 3 meals a day
- Monthly toiletries
- Counselling and life skills training
- Entrepreneurial skills training and referrals to workplace employment and further psycho-social support.
We aim to enable mothers to regain their dignity by becoming independent of the shelter, in order to adequately support themselves and their children.
The NSM is a non-profit organisation established in 2008 at a conference of shelters nationally. The Nisaa Institute for Women’s Development serves as its secretariat. Its membership currently consists of 96 shelters spread across all nine provinces of South Africa.
“Shelters play a fundamental, mitigating role in responding to, and addressing, violence against women and their children. Shelters offer safe accommodation, they provide opportunities for healing and re-building, and play a significant role in interrupting and breaking the cycle of violence.”
NATIONAL 24HR TOLL FREE SHELTER HELPLINE 0800 001 005
The Men of Steel- Stewarts & Lloyds
Violence against women and children is a very profound and widespread problem and Stewarts & Lloyds as a whole (but the men of the company in particular) stand together to beat the scourge that is the abuse. Stewarts & Lloyds has a long history of serving the community when it comes to the steel, irrigation and construction sectors among others since 1903- an as a mostly male-dominated sector- we feel we need to be at the forefront of taking a stand against women and child abuse.
Starting at home, we need to foster a safe environment for our children. It’s been proven that childhood exposure to violence and trauma is linked to men’s use of violence against their partners.
Fathers who are more involved in the upbringing of their children benefits women, children as well as those men themselves and in turn reduces men’s violence against women.
Men need to play a major role in helping boys at home and in the community to not have pre-conceived ideas of what ‘manliness’ means and whether a boy/ man is masculine enough.
We need to support women’s organisations and services in our own communities which is what Stewarts & Lloyds is doing with the Frida Hartley Shelter for destitute women and children.
It’s our job as Men of Steel to ensure that women and children’s rights are promoted and protected and that Stewarts & Lloyds are doing their little bit to contribute to this effort.
Make your pledge towards Vicky’s ride to help us make a meaningful difference to destitute women and children!!
THANK YOU TO THE SPONSORS
Let the Adventure Begin!
Stage 1
Start at the center of Madrid, in Plaza del Sol, aside the km 0 landmark where all the roads leave from Madrid. The route goes north circling the Anillo Verde, and only after a few km and an hour ride begins the road heading to the mountains of Guadarrama. Going up this hills it’s going to be the challenge of the day!!!
Stage 2
We start by going up the hills of Guadarrama. This is a challenge with 700 m ascent!
Stage 3
Leaving from the medieval city of Ávila, descending by the streets along the wall, the direction is west, it’s time to hit the road. This is another day cycling on high mountain roads. After this long stage the route reaches Barco d’Ávila, a historical villa within this mountain range.
Stage 4
For the fourth stage of this adventure there is a difficulty, the Béjar Mountain with a passage high at 1.600 m. This is a day with difficult climbs, sinuous and deserted roads that result in a slow progress through the mountains but always full of emotions.
Stage 5
This is one of the longest days but after this, half of the route will be done.. It is going to be the continuation of the last final climb of the previous day. Vicky will need to climb over 800m to reach the epic climb from the Spanish Vuelta – Peña de Francia (1750m).
Stage 6
The highest mountain of Portugal through beautiful forests and passing by the picturesque village of Manteigas lying on a glacial valley. This day is also the highest in Portugal passing the 2.000 m just to have the longest descent of the entire crossing till you pass at 300 m on Vide Village.
Stage 7
This day goes through the central schist mountains system of Portugal. The route follows through rounded ridges near to 1.000 m.
Stage 8
Starting at the small town of Penela (with its beautiful castle), and quickly leaving the limestone hills we finally reach the Ocean.
Stage 9
Finally, we reach the final stage. For those who were able to ride for 9 days through the mountains of Iberian Peninsula this is a great day!
Pledges
Ovakado is the destination for all items to inspire , motivate , simplify and beautify , like scatter cushions , throws , home decor and gifts for friends to personal items such as jewellery , clothes , bags and a unique baby range.
Ovakado supplies quality products at an affordable price , check out our website for the complete range and prices.
By supporting Ovakado you are supporting another woman and with that a family .
Ovakado employees are women from all walks of life . Our vision is to employ more women and by doing so empower and better more lives.
Vicky explains ; “ I love the Shine Theory , which is that when you help another woman rise , we all shine “
Watch out for my blog where I will be advising , informing and helping women on how to decorate any area or room . I believe every woman can have a beautiful space that is both practical and affordable .
Ovakado also hosts events where women from various backgrounds , markets and companies come together to tell their individual success stories and where everyone will find some inspiration and provides an excellent opportunity to learn and network .
