Engen has stepped up to lend a helping hand to Mangaung Rugby Club, to bolster the Free State based organisation’s efforts to foster cohesion in the Rocklands community and surrounds.
Established in 1994, Mangaung Rugby Club started out as a small township club that has since flourished to play a crucial role in youth development, community building as well as the unearthing of hidden talent.
“In 2021, nine players on the Women’s Free State Provincial team were from Mangaung Rugby Club and in 2019 two of our club members played for the Springboks,” comments Foreman Ramokoena, club chairman and an Area Manager for Engen.
With the club in desperate need of funding, Ramokoena approached his employer Engen through the company’s Employee Community Partnership Programme (ECPP) for assistance.
Engen’s ECPP allows for all employees who actively participate as volunteers and provide sweat equity (time and effort) in a community initiative or outreach project to apply for a small funding grant.
The maximum value of the funding grant is R5 000.
“We are grateful to Engen for their support and donation, which we have used to buy xxx (number) of rugby balls and cones for the club,” says Ramokoena.
It is well documented that participation and involvement in sport and recreation builds healthier, happier and safer communities, which is something Mangaung Rugby Club can be proud to have helped with.
“Since the club’s inception we have seen the impact that rugby can have on our youth who are in desperate need of role models, hope and opportunity,” adds Ramokoena.
Engen’s ECPP aims to create meaningful upliftment partnerships between Engen employees and their immediate communities.
As a caring company, Engen commends Foreman Ramokoena for showing commitment and playing a leading role to make a difference, says the company’s General Manager: Human Resources, Ivershini Reddy.
“By playing a key role at Mangaung Rugby Club, Foreman’s contribution is helping to uplift the community and develop future talent.
“This is the very aim of the Employee Community Partnership Programme, which seeks to create meaningful partnerships between Engen employees who are involved in community upliftment initiatives, and their local communities, and thereby further foster a caring company ethos.”
Engen lends further support to the much-loved sport of rugby as official fuel suppliers to the world champion, Springboks.
Engen is also the official Get into Rugby (GIR) development partner, in collaboration with the South African Rugby Union (SARU).
Get into Rugby is a grassroots initiative spread across all nine provinces that forms part of SARU’s strategy to grow the game and encourage players of all ages to try, play and stay in rugby.