The Ndungane Twins Foundation, founded and run by former Springbok players Akona and Odwa Ndungane, received a welcome donation from Hollywoodbets.
The foundation was created to scout for young, talented, underprivileged children and offer them opportunities that would help better their lives into the future. This will be achieved by placing beneficiaries in good schools, covering the cost of their school uniforms, boarding fees, sports gear and other essentials. The goal is to help talented young people grow by exposing them to top sports training as well as quality education. Thanks to this donation from Hollywoodbets the foundation is currently supporting two beneficiaries.
Courtesy of Hollywoodbets’ involvement in the programme they were able to extend it to include a second young person, Liyema Lento a 16-year-old student from Mdantsane. This means that another young man will now be able to receive quality educational and sports training. At present the twins are focussing on assisting young people in the Eastern Cape because this is where everything started for them, so this poverty-stricken province lies close to their hearts.
“Our plan was always to grow the foundation to be able to support more and more young people, and now that we have partnered up with Hollywoodbets we will be able to realise that dream! We hope to one day expand and grow our programme into other regions in South Africa as well. Thanks to this donation made by Hollywoodbets, we now have the ability to add a second child onto our programme,” said Akona Ndungane.
The Ndungane twins believe that they have been fortunate because of their rugby talent, and therefore want to create hope and opportunities for other young South Africans. “We have been extremely blessed in our life and rugby careers and now our focus has shifted onto helping those who are unable to help themselves. Through the use of sport and education, we believe it’s the perfect combination in trying to change lives for the better. It is extremely important for companies to get involved and provide assistance, as most foundations or NPOs don’t have the necessary resources to have the impact they desire. The relationship we have with Hollywoodbets allows us to have a wider reach and be able to change more lives than we would have on our own,” explained Odwa Ndungane.
The company chose to support the Ndungane twins in this way as they believe in backing the members of their Hollywoodbets team who are doing good work.
“Akona and Odwa have been such an amazing addition to our Purple Team, and working with them over the past few months has been an absolute pleasure. They share the same values of ubuntu and community that we cherish so much at Hollywoodbets. Through sharing their own experiences with us they have taught us a lot about the needs of young rugby players. We admire that they hope to use this foundation to upskill young talented players on the rugby field as well as providing them with a quality education. We look forward to hearing more about Liyema as his school and sports careers progress,” said Devin Heffer, Brand and Communications Manager at Hollywoodbets.
The Ndungane brothers first joined the Hollywoodbets team in 2019 as the official Rugby Brand Ambassadors and have been seen at various Hollywoodbets events as well as making an appearance on The Phaka Show on SuperSport, proudly powered by Hollywoodbets.
