Full Circle



The Old Mutual Foundation book "Journey", a fulfilment of our vision.



Wow, almost four months to the day after we set off on our wonderful road trip, we can proudly present to you our beautiful Old Mutual Foundation book entitled "JOURNEY".  (If you click on the link, you'll find a snazzy online version, where you can flip through it page by page.)

It’s the strangest feeling to hold in your hands the tangible end-product of something that started as an idea, a thought born in conversation, which took root and grew into a plan, and filled out with action (and loads of stress!), and then finally produced results. I’m sure most parents must have a similar feeling when they look at their kids…. hmmm, maybe we won’t go down that road, some parents might mutter about wanting to reverse their results!

We’ve had such positive feedback from those people who’ve already received copies, and invariably they comment on two things, the first is Mark’s great photography and the second is that they so enjoyed reading the stories - it’s not just another corporate report!  So a message to any other corporates out there, don’t overlook the power of story-telling when trying to reach an audience! And yes, our beneficiaries, without whom we would not have had any stories to tell, will all be receiving copies.

We launched JOURNEY in September, amidst our glittering (green) Old Mutual Staff Volunteerism Awards where we were delighted and proud to host Archbishop.Emeritus Desmond Tutu as our Guest of Honour. 


The Old Mutual Foundation Road Trip exhibition hosted at the annual Staff Volunteerism Awards. From left, Diane Ritson (Interim head of OM Foundation), Archbishop Emeritus Tutu and Kuseni Dlamini, CEO Old Mutual & Emerging Markets. Photo by Mark Wessels.

Every year, the Old Mutual Foundation recognizes and celebrates the extraordinary work of our many staff volunteers out there in our local communities – these are everyday ordinary folk who do extraordinary things in their communities, quietly, and without compensation or fanfare. So it was a fitting platform to showcase the Old Mutual Foundation project exhibition of our road trip images and launch our book.   

On top of it, we were thrilled to also pick up some great media coverage. Check it out …  

Daily Times, Thurs 29th Sept - a fantastic spread of Mark's photographs!

Die Burger, Fri 30th Sept - "The Arch" at our 2011 Staff
Volunteer Awards ceremony

And here we are, a-rootin’ and a-tootin’ for your 2011 SA Blog Award vote! Come on, admit it – when have you ever read such an interesting Business Blog or else a Travel Blog with a social conscience? So spread the word via FB, BBM, Facebook and Twitter and make a noise to put socially responsible corporate investment on the South African blog map.