The Bright Start team is made up of Sally Whitford, Fiona Maitland and Sharon Scudamore.
Sally Whitford
Founding Director
Sally Whitford decided that she wanted to help make a difference in the lives of individuals who were less fortunate and the obvious choice seemed to be sponsoring the education of a child. She sent Sinalo, the son of her domestic worker, to the local school that her children attended.
It became evident that whilst Sinalo was improving, he was not achieving his full potential. It was identified that schooling provided only part of Sinalo’s developmental needs and that he needed additional structure and support to achieve his full potential, like access to extra-curricular activities and a support network.
Sally then established the additional structures and consequently Sinalo’s grades flourished! Sinalo has become an icon of what can be achieved when innate potential, the right attitude and a reasonable environment are combined.
From this experience, Sally realised there was a
need for a School Sponsorship Programme that provided additional Support and Guidance outside the classroom, which extended to the parents and the child’s social and emotional needs. From this concept, Bright Start was born, and the organisation was founded in 2008.
Fiona Maitland
Programme Director
Fiona is a UK registered Nursery Nurse and has completed numerous training courses to keep up with modern childcare practices.
After returning to Cape Town, she started a programme at Masakhane crèche in Masiphumelele, a township near Fish Hoek to help the crèche workers and the children. This developed into her Bright Buttons Language Enrichment Programme. Some of her children from Masakhane crèche are now confident Grade 6 learners at a fantastic local primary school!
Fiona is passionate about early learning and good primary school education.
Sharon Scudamore
Fundraising Co-ordinator
Sharon has over 15 years’ experience as an owner of an advertising agency in the UK. For the past 10 years, she has worked closely with the community and NGOs, mainly in Khayelitsha for Skills Training. She is a board member of two Hout Bay charitable trusts: Ukwabelana Trust and Seeds Trust (Imizamo Yethu). Above all, Sharon is a mother, a grandmother and social entrepreneur and is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives.
