Sustain Her is an initiative created to remove the barrier that period poverty creates to many girls in the South African schooling system. It is estimated that around 30% of young girls in South Africa are absent from school for several days a month as a result of this challenge. Love Our City recycles preloved clothing to create reusable sanitary towels. These towels last up to 5 years. A kit is provided to the girls that contains 6 reusable pads, cleaning products, and instructions within a bucket that can be used for cleaning the products. The school girls are equipped with information on how to use and clean the towels when they receive the kit.

To strengthen our collaboration with the government and promote active engagement, Love Our City has established a Policy Engagement team. This team, composed of educators from Kings College and Preparatory School Bryanston, as well as the Love Our City Network of Schools, actively reviews and provides valuable input on the Department of Basic Education's gazetted legislation, policies, frameworks, and bills.

Alongside Caroline Ngwenya the principal of one of the schools within our network, we have identified that there is a need for the spiritual upliftment and encouragement of our teachers. We have therefore launched a podcast series, titled Seeding Purpose, as a starting point for providing such to our teachers.

Love Our City is dedicated to addressing the significant challenges in South African schools related to basic infrastructure maintenance and development. Our mission is to assist schools within our network by providing support for the maintenance and enhancement of their infrastructure which is crucial in ensuring that these schools can offer a secure and enriching learning environment for their students.

Volunteers play a vital role in this by contributing their time and skills to activities such as painting, tiling, and establishing playgrounds as part of the school maintenance efforts. Whether you possess basic painting skills or more advanced DIY and professional capabilities, your assistance is invaluable. 

For more complex infrastructure initiatives, Love Our City collaborates with contractors, preferably selected from the local community surrounding the schools. Generosity towards this allows us to fund these projects and implement improvements that contribute significantly to the overall development of the schools.

Libraries serve as essential hubs for learning and exploration, providing students with the resources they need to develop strong literacy skills. The recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) indicates that South Africa’s literacy levels are in a dire state, with 8 out of 10 learners being unable to read for meaning by the age of 10. Additionally, the Department of Basic Education’s latest statistics (2018) indicate that 18,019 out of 23471 public schools have no libraries.

Love Our City therefore collects new and used books to support and even establish libraries in the Love Our City Network of Schools around the city. The Library Initiative seeks to empower children with easily accessible print material in the form of age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction books. Research clearly shows that children with access to print reading material have improved literacy levels.

We seek book donations catering to pre-school, primary school, and high school students, whether they are new or pre-loved, to foster a love for reading and enhance literacy among the youth within the Love Our City network of schools. Your contributions make a significant impact in supporting and even establishing libraries in the schools.

Developing and creating low cost educational kits and teaching tools, particularly for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics - STEAM subjects enables under-resourced schools to move from just text-book based learning to enquiry-based and experiential learning as we know this improves learner performance and understanding of concepts.

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In an effort to support the Love Our City Network of Schools, ongoing drives for, preloved and new stationery take place. These are donated both from individuals as well as schools that are better resourced. Stationery is sorted and distributed to schools within our network. Having just started this initiative at the end of 2023, Love Our City has already been able to equip one of our most in need schools with stationery for the year from donations that have come in so far.

The effective utilization of tools and resources in educational settings demands more than mere provision; it necessitates comprehensive training. Recognising that the primary catalyst for classroom success is the teacher, we consider them to be the most invaluable asset to schools. Leveraging our educational processes and assets, we offer targeted training programs for teachers. Through this initiative, we aim to enhance the teaching capabilities of educators and ultimately contribute to an enriched learning environment for students.