By Ian Kilbride.
I guess we all have a favourite yuletide, festive song or Christmas Carol? Mine happens to be the John Lennon ballad, “Happy Christmas, war is over”. For me the most important line of the song is its opening, “So this is Christmas and what have you done?”
In one simple line Lennon turns modern glitzy commercialism on its head and directs us to what Christmas ought to be about, giving kindness and care to others, particularly those less fortunate.
While Lennon’s song is about peace among people and his own cri du couers, it also implores the listener to reflect for a few minutes on our own behaviour throughout the year. This, in turn, prompts me to reflect on what has been achieved at the Spirit Foundation in 2025.
I am pleased to say that when I look back and reflect on “what we have done”, it has been the most impactful in our 31-year history. All the programmes we run or support in the areas of scholar education, community development and wildlife conservation have exceeded our targets and expectations. Great credit goes to our Spirit Foundation staff, programme heads and our wonderful partners.
Unlike pure charity, our philanthropy engages in long-term programmes that are measurable and have clearly defined objectives, goals and outcomes. Each programme can be viewed via the Spirit Foundation website, https://spiritf.org/ and I am sure you will be inspired by our work and what we have achieved.
But this end of year letter is not just about reflecting on John Lennon’s question about what we have done, but also about inviting you, the reader, to join us in 2026 in making a real impact in early childhood education, community programmes and wildlife conservation.
In over thirty years of philanthropy with the Spirit Foundation, I have yet to come across anyone who is not moved by our work and not inspired to make some form of contribution. Everyone reading this will have memories of one or more teachers who inspired them to be better learners and to aim towards higher achievement. This is the essence of our scholar and ECD programme. All of us in South Africa are aware of or have lived in underserved communities or know of people with disabilities such as blindness and deafness – again these are areas that the Spirit Foundation focuses its efforts to support.
We are blessed in South Africa with an abundance and diversity of wildlife, but while this is a national treasure, it also attracts the attention of the cruelest and most inhumane – namely poachers. At the Spirit Foundation, we believe that we cannot survive and thrive as a species while our wildlife is decimated all around us and this is why we are so committed to the conservation of our most iconic species. Again, I would suggest that anyone who sees the work of the Spirit Foundation in the field of nature conservation cannot but be moved to support what we do.
So, let me conclude by answering John Lennon’s question, “Yes, we have done and achieved quite a lot”, but we can achieve so much more with your generous support. So please take a few minutes and reflect on what you would like to achieve with the Spirit Foundation in 2026 and give us a call on: +27 (0) 21 205 3497, or email us at info@spiritf.org and we’d love to welcome you aboard!
