Greg is in Manila, speaking about the Foundation and his companies. He’s asked to be kept busy, so we’ve taken the challenge and put it back on him! As soon as Greg landed at Manila airport, he was whisked off to a press conference attended by some of the Philippines’ top newspapers and TV Companies, all keen to hear about the Multi-millionaire Philanthropist building a village in Iloilo and the opening of his Learn To Trade Office in the city.Â
The Philippine Star were quick to get a one on one interview and the news was released the very next day.
It is not easy being a charity ambassador, especially when your team know your dedication and are not afraid to put you to the test.
After a short night’s sleep, due to jetlag, he was off to the Learn to Trade offices to meet his team and straight into meetings. It wasn’t long before the TV crews had tracked him down and before he knew it was being interviewed by Arma Bacar from Rated K TV.Â
Greg’s schedule didn’t get any quieter – over the next few days he was been interviewed by Entrepeneur TV, ABS-CBN Philippines, appeared live on UNTV Breakfast TV, Live on Radio DWIZ, interviewed by Philippine Graphic Magazine and finally a live guest on CNN Philippines.Â
Listeners from Radio DWIZ were surprised to hear that the village is entirely funded by forex traders doing good, rather than the bad reputation that normally comes with forex traders.Â
Safe to say, our scheduling for Greg this week has left him with minimal sleep. We’re sorry Greg, but you can sleep when you get back home 😉
You can comfort yourself by being crowned king of the press by the rest of the team!
It’s key for charities to work together. To share lessons learned to reach the ultimate goal of making a lasting impact. That is why this Charity Tuesday the Foundation team and sir Levi, the director of the outreach team from Central Philippine University, have been on a fact-finding mission and met with the housing building charity Gawad Kalinga in Iloilo.
Eric, their representative on site, explained to us how they have worked with their beneficiaries to create a sustainable future. Thank you for the time and all the great advice!
Each Christmas, Greg’s companies donate staff time, food and presents for families in the local area who are struggling over Christmas, with the foundation organising and planning the event. This year, we have held basket Brigades in the UK, Australia, and the Philippines.
In the UK, we worked with the Salvation Army Wandsworth, helping 76 families get by this Christmas. As our CEO Greg said,
“It’s a great way to drum up some Christmas cheer to the families. Many of us are lucky enough to have families and friends who buy each other presents and food, so it is good to give to others and help them through, what many find a lonely and difficult time.”
On December 20th, we packed 76 food boxes and gifts for 161 children, which we hand-delivered to the families and the Salvation Army. Basket brigade is an initiative we are so proud to be a part of, and we are extremely grateful to Greg Secker, Learn to Trade UK, SmartCharts, Capital Index and FX Capital for their passion to contribution, which enabled us to help so many families this Christmas. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun organising it.
Basket Brigade is an alternative Christmas party and the one that staff look forward to every year. Here in the UK, London Live came along to our Basket Brigade as we urged more companies to get involved and spoke about the rise of foodbank users the past years. It may sound shocking, but 1 in 5 families use foodbanks at least once in their life here in the UK.Â
Not only has Greg’s companies done basket brigade in the UK, they have also held them in Australia and the Philippines! In the Philippines, the team bought presents and delivered them to the children of House of Refuge, the Manila-based orphanage the foundation donated a medical clinic to earlier this year!
In Australia, Learn to Trade was spreading the Christmas Spirit on behalf of the Greg Secker Foundation with a visit at Wesley Mission!Â
We had such a rewarding and fun time, but hope that next year there will be fewer families in need of our assistance.
Our successful Inspired Youth workshops, held in cooperation with Pride Factor, took place in Johannesburg and Cape Town in March 2016. The one-day workshops received an overwhelmingly positive response from those who attended, the role models and celebrities who presented motivational insights, as well as the organisations and schools who brought students to the event.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the organisers of the event on Saturday,†said Gladys Ndlangamandla of Tembisa Secondary School, whose students were brought to the event by the President’s Award Group. “The feedback I’m receiving from the learners is just overwhelming.â€
“I have enjoyed myself and the inspiring information I got today I will always keep with me,” said Perfect Zikhali.
More than 800 teenagers and young adults attended the events and left motivated and better prepared to achieve their full potential as they aspire to become the country’s future leaders. Having run similar youth programmes in the United Kingdom, we are excited about bringing our experience and commitment to giving children the best possible start in life to South Africa.
We have held a number of Youth Leadership Summits in the UK, equipping young people with practical life strategies and emotional development tools. The South African workshops are the first to take place globally.
“The exchange rate is such that we have the capacity to make a much bigger difference in South Africa,†says Greg. “The workshop is designed around my experiences in trading and training, where the ability to master oneself has a very strong bearing on performance and success. By learning to manage emotional and reactive decision-making, you’re empowered to unlock the resourcefulness centre in your brain. This is where the magic happens and I want to give young people the same skills, which will make a huge difference as they grow up, finish school and begin careers.â€
Along with the motivational talks, the workshops included entertainment acts, gifts and prizes, opportunities to meet and mingle with the speakers and browse exhibits on education, mobile connectivity and youth products. Participants received vouchers to buy the food of their choice from the onsite store as well as programs, pens and a special memento!
Role-models from a broad cross-section of business, sport and entertainment contributed their time and expertise to providing youngsters from every walk of life with a memorable experience. All the participants have given the events rave reviews after hearing insights from, and interacting with, a dozen of the country’s highest profile role models.
Some of the motivational speakers included:
Nick de Wit, SA freestyle Moto-X champion and ranked 5thin the world
Romy Heldsinger, CEO of JAG, a sales lead company
Iris Cupido, CEO of the SABC Foundation
Mike Sharman, Co-Founder of RetroViral, online campaigns for brands
Lunga Tshika, SA Ambassador to One Young World, a global forum for young leaders
Katlego Maboe, the host of Expresso and Strictly Come Dancing
Theodora Lee, the winner of the Best YouTube Channel at the African Blogger Awards in 2015
Jimmy Nevis, the number one pop/R&B musician
In Johannesburg, Sibusiso Leope, also known as DJ Sbu, got proceedings underway with a high-energy talk, followed by digital fundi Romy Heldsinger, the CEO of JAG Method, and motivational speakers Iris Cupido, the CEO of the SABC Foundation, and Sibusiso Molimi. MetroFM’s Talk Show host Rams Mobote then interviewed multiple FMX champion and stuntman Nick de Wit. The afternoon program featured the debut live performance of rising star Alexandra May’s new song before Mike Sharman, founder of the Retroviral Creative Agency, recounted his path to the top of the digital advertising world. The day ended with the thoughts of entrepreneur and the SA ambassador for One Young World, Lunga Tshikila.
“Education moved me from the street corner to a table full of decision makers. Education changes lives,” DJ Sbu told the audience, adding, “It’s not about where you come from, but where you’re goingâ€.
We wish to thank all those who participated and worked on organising the workshops for making this such a great event for South Africa’s future leaders!
Interested in hearing more? Check out our social media on Inspired Youth
 
