When Louis van der Watt and Francois van Niekerk founded Atterbury Property, they decided to place a third of the shares in Atterbury Trust. This generous vision has become a beacon of hope for so many people in our country over the past 27 years.

Atterbury Trust’s heartbeat is the power of education, the promotion of arts and culture, and the support of disadvantaged Afrikaans communities.

I have been privileged to be part of the Trust story of caring and hope since 1998 with the awarding of the first six bursaries. It is a good story about young people with big dreams; about hardship and money that was not there to make the dreams come true, but with a happy ending in almost every case. We can tell stories of perseverance, hard work and taking chances. The degree at the end of the journey is often the first in a family. Each of our almost 940 bursary stories tells of the chance to study further, but also to grow – as a leader at university, on the sports field, as a full-fledged person who can make a contribution to society. Our bursary family thrives with almost 700 alumni who today have filled their places in the South African or overseas professional world in specialised careers – whether as teachers who know what it feels like to have little and now play a positive role in the lives of so many children or even as doctors who serve their fellow humans with dedication.

The Fairtree Atterbury Theatre has been providing artists and audiences with a world-class platform where the best entertainment can be performed and enjoyed since 2011. Goodwill reigns supreme year after year during Versnit with fantastic South African artists who repeatedly enchant a select audience at Rust en Vrede.