The Peace Centre is a non-profit organisation, a charity. NPO No 011-790, and PBO 18/11/13/3083. This allows South African donations to be offset against tax. It operates under its own Constitution and with a volunteer Board elected annually.
HISTORY
Established by Cape Town Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) in 1987 as the Quaker Peace Centre, today we operate as The Peace Centre. In the early headquarters in Mowbray, Cape Town.
This was very successful in the schools but the Centre staff could only cover a small fraction of the Western Cape schools and sadly the training did not spread out into the communities.
A strategic review decided that:
- All work to be community focused
- Paid full time staff to be kept to a minimum. Volunteers and contractors to be used as needed
- Violence and its causes in individuals and communities to be addressed recognizing that lasting change in people (and communities) only comes from within
- The Peace Centre to develop links with complementary organisations.
THE PEACE CENTRE IS NOW VERY DIFFERENT
After a funding crisis in 2016 the Board decided that the Peace Centre should re-invent itself and put sustained effort into communities most affected by violence, concentrating there on support and capacity building. In this the Centre should collaborate with other organisations and networks who are also working for peace and against corruption.
Salaried staff to be kept to a minimum and locally recruited. Specialist contractors or volunteers to be brought in as needed.
In April 2018 the Quaker Peace Centre opened an office in Khayelitsha (Cape Town’s biggest township, with a population of at least 500,000. The office is situated at 158, Ntlazane Rd in Ilitha Park. In 2018, the Peace Centre dropped ‘Quaker’ from its name.
WHAT WE DO
MEET THE TEAM
Board Members
Chairman Ghalib Galant Lawyer and development expert
Deputy Chairman/Operations Manager Rommel Roberts Social development consultant
Secretary Michael Williams Engineer, consultant
Property Portfolio John Gardner Medical Doctor
Member Melikaya Ntshingwa Head Marquette Uni internship program
Member Bill Sewell Organisational and Management expert
Member Jeremy Routledge Peace-worker, and NGO director
Staff
Administrator/Project Manager Meagan Cloete
IT, Computer Support and Data Base Dalton Bessick
Volunteer Nozuko Mgwebi
FINANCIALS
The Peace Centre earns R180,00 a year from property rental but, apart from this, is dependent on payment-for-services and donations.
Current donors
Charities Aid Foundation
Central England Quakers
Quaker Peace and Service Aotearoa NZ
Swiss Quakers Yearly Meeting
Quaker Hulpfonds Nederland
American Friends Service Committee
Catholic Church Berne