Real manpower at Round Table

Roodepoort’s own Round Table club takes the organisation’s motto to ‘adopt, adapt and improve’ very seriously, says president Neil Pretorius.

Round Table Roodepoort consists of a group of businessmen or tablers who meet regularly and get involved in local charity events and fundraisers to uplift their community.

The Round Table movement started in England in 1927 when Prince Edward III of Wales said “young businessmen should get together round the table, adopt methods that have proved to be sound, adapt the methods to the changing needs of the time and, whenever possible, improve them”.

The first South African club was founded in 1948, where after the Association of Round Tables South Africa was founded in 1951.

The Roodepoort club typically has one to two business meetings and one social meeting a month, usually held at Gateway Village in Ruimsig.

According to Pretorius the Round Table club offers an excellent opportunity for men to make new friends in their community. It also offers opportunities to improve one’s public speaking, leadership, project management and meeting procedure.

Currently the Round Table supports four main organisations – Gateway School and Gateway Village, Matla A Bana West Rand (that works against child abuse), Roodepark School and Cansa (specifically, their Movember campaign).

Pretorius says that the club also will consider helping individual or once-off cases.

The club furthermore donates their time and manpower to various other charity projects, including the Sunflower Foundation’s Bandana Day, the Fairlands Salvation Army Orphanage’s yearly fête, the Toy Run and White Christmas, whereby they treat around 1 500 children from areas such as Claremont and Newlands to a day of fun and gifts. They also have lent their hands to Coronation Park and the Association of Persons with Disabilities (APD).

For more information on the Roodepoort Round Table or to get involved, contact Neil Pretorius on 082 772 3380 or via email at neil@rca.za.com.