History of Funding for the Learner Development Programme
German Funding 1982-1997
The Programme – previously known as the Enrichment Programme - was established with German support in 1982 at the height of the apartheid regime. Funding from this source continued for 15 years, initially through the church body Evangelische Zentralstele fur Entwicklungshilfe (EZE), then by the German Academic Exchange (DAAD) and later by the German Government. In 1997 the German Government warned that due to the new political dispensation in SA an alternative source of income should be found. Two grants secured from the Transitional National Development Trust and the Open Society Foundation at the end of 1997 eased the threat of having to close the programme altogether, however certain cuts had to be made.
UK Charity Comic Relief 1998-2005
Welcome news came after the start of 1998 when the British charity, Comic Relief, awarded a grant. It was through our UK partners, EDSA (Education for Democracy in South Africa) that this grant was secured, initially for a period of three years and then for a further five. Unfortunately the grant was terminated at the end of 2005, when Comic Relief changed its funding criteria. Again cuts had to be made to the Learner Development Programme.
Mrs Anita Nonemann and Prof George Ellis
Once more the financial crisis was averted. Mrs Anita Nonneman, our private donor from the US since 1998, generously increased her already substantial donation, and Emeritus Professor George Ellis, ASSET board member and winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize for 2004, donated one-tenth of his prize to ASSET. This benevolent donation enabled ASSET to cover the LDP shortfall, purchase the office buildings and give a much-needed boost to bursary funds.
Donor base extended
When ASSET became independent of the Cape Western Region of the SA Institute of Race Relations in 2003, it was able to expand its base of donors. Most of the existing donors at this point supported our independence and provided us with funding security by renewing their contributions.