This past Friday evening, Union Preparatory School, Graaff-Reinet celebrated the incredible success of its 2025 Wild Karoo fundraising initiative at a special gala event, hosted at the Graaff-Reinet Club.
The event, which has become a hallmark of community spirit and support since its inception in 2014, ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐ผ๐ฎ๐น๐, thanks to the unwavering dedication of parents, staff and supporters.
Chairman of the School Governing Body, Justin Kingwill, delivered an inspiring welcoming address in which he highlighted the immense power of collaboration, quoting international author Idowu Koyenikan: โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ด.โ
This sentiment perfectly encapsulated the eveningโs atmosphere, as guests united to support a common purpose.
In his address, Kingwill reflected on the challenges facing education in South Africa. Despite these hurdles, he expressed optimism for the future of the Union Schools. โ๐๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ, ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ,โ he stated confidently.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ณ – ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐.
Kingwill expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Wild Karoo committee, particularly to Diane Murray, Melanie de Klerk, Lauren Wormald, Jessica Walker and Liesl Kingwill, for their tireless efforts in organising the event. โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ he said.
The support from the broader community was palpable, with so many generous donations for the auction. โIt was truly heart-warming going through the auction lots and seeing what parents, friends of the school and members of the community had donated,โ Kingwill shared, emphasizing the strong ties that bind the community together.
A ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ was also extended to the Graaff-Reinet Club, Wessel Landman, Mark van der Struys and the rest of the clubโs executive team for accommodating the venue change at the last minute, as well as to Greg Meir from Swift Vee for his user-friendly auction platform.
Kingwill acknowledged that the success of the Wild Karoo event is a collective achievement, stating, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.โ (A slideshow recognising all those who have helped with this fantastic occasion was featured on the night.)
As the night unfolded, attendees enjoyed an exciting atmosphere filled with camaraderie and purpose. Kingwill closed his address with the powerful words of renowned author Jane Goodall: โ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ!โ
The Wild Karoo fundraising event has once again proven to be more than just a fundraiser – it’s a celebration of community spirit, resilience and a shared commitment to ensuring that Union Preparatory School continues to thrive.
