Giving back to the community

Growing and developing our community is a key focus at Austell Pharmaceuticals. Therefore, in 2020, the company launched the Al-Noor Foundation, a non-profit organisation aimed at making a difference in the lives of Austell employees and the community at large through healthcare, educational, and social responsibility initiatives. Since its launch three years ago, the foundation has embarked on many exciting projects to help struggling individuals around the country.

The word “noor” means light in Arabic, and the Al-Noor Foundation was created to be a guiding light for Austell’s charity efforts in the community. These community projects involve women empowerment activities, educational scholarships and even sponsoring grocery parcels for the underprivileged among others.

Former South African president, Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” As a proudly South African company, every year we work towards equipping as many children and young adults with a good education as we can. In 2021, through the Al-Noor Foundation Student Bursary Fund, Austell provided the financial means for students to complete a tertiary qualification who would otherwise not have had the economic means to do so.

Through the Austell School Adoption Fund, we also support schools in underprivileged communities by providing the critical resources that are required to enable the development of future leaders in South Africa. We have also established the Austell Library Fund to provide underprivileged schools and communities with turnkey library solutions.

Prior to the launch of the foundation, we created the Austell Medicine Donation Fund to support clinics across South Africa by donating essential drugs to these clinics to supply the communities that they cater to. During the Covid-19 pandemic, this fund donated chloroquine phosphate to the South African government in support of the nation’s fight against the pandemic. This fund has now been incorporated into the foundation and will continue to provide medications to these clinics as and when it is needed.

The Austell Essential Procedure Fund supports patients who would not ordinarily qualify for essential medical procedures e.g., dialysis for patients who are over the age of 60 and do not have private health insurance.

The Austell Welfare Fund is dedicated to meeting the nutritional needs of families by providing donations of staple food items to communities and families in need across South Africa. Through all these programmes, we aim to change the world, or at the very least, our little part of the world.

Apart from the official funds that we have set up, every year we also dedicate time and resources to special community projects. In 2022, through the Al-Noor Foundation, Austell contributed to the Maskeen Humanitarian Feeding Scheme in Newclare, Johannesburg. This feeding scheme was started by dynamic father, Ashraf Jardine and his son, Yaseen Jardine to help feed the poor in the community. Over the years, Maskeen has evolved to become so much more than just a feeding scheme. Through this organisation, the Jardin family also helps those in the community gain basic work skills, so that they can go out and find jobs to sustain themselves.

Another project that we got involved in, in 2022 was the Gift of the Givers medical initiative to provide basic healthcare services to the community of Touws River in the Western Cape. Identifying the desperate need for basic healthcare services in this area, we worked closely together with Gift of the Givers to deploy a multi-disciplinary medical team equipped with medical supplies to help the underprivileged members of this community manage their health.

At Austell, not only do we want to make a life for ourselves, but we want to ensure that we play our role in improving the lives of everyone around us through the Al Noor Foundation.

If you would like to learn more about the foundation, click here.