Mellon homes in on building blitz of South African townships

PHILANTHROPIST Niall Mellon has raised his ambitions for this year’s South African township building blitz by 25% despite the downturn in the construction industry.

Cranking up the campaign for his township trust, he said he wants to encourage 2,008 volunteers to travel to Cape Town where they will be asked to build 250 houses in one week.

Last year 1,380 builders and support volunteers delivered 200 houses to the residents of the Freedom Park Township who had previously been living in shacks.

As the recruitment campaign travels around Ireland signing up people for this year’s blitz, Mr Mellon said the problems with the housing sector will affect many of its core supporters.

However, he said with 700 people already signed up for November’s trip he said the charity expects to meet its target while still taking the majority of recruits from the construction industry.

“With the downturn in the construction industry I know that it is going to take a huge effort to make our target of 2,000 Irish builders on the trip.

“We are looking for 80% tradesmen to allow us to construct high-quality houses in as fast a time as possible.

“The rest of the group can come from all walks of life — from bankers to bakers, teachers to tour guides, chief executives to chefs,” he said.

The new targets come as RTÉ prepares to screen a documentary on last November’s successful blitz at 9.30pm tonight.

It was filmed on location in Freedom Park tracking the progress of the people who arrived in 28 coach-loads every day to roll up their sleeves in the harsh and exposed environment of the township.

Produced by Sideline Productions the trust said it will provide an opportunity for prospective volunteers to see what is in store when later this year the pilgrimage is made to the southern tip of Africa.

The blitz has grown from a travelling party of a couple of hundred in 2003 to a couple of thousand this year.

It coincided with the trust’s purchase of a South African construction company, which now employs 1,750 people and will build more than 6,500 charity houses across South Africa this year.

Last month Taoiseach Bertie Ahern used his visit to South Africa to announce a €5 million support package for the work of the Niall Mellon Township Trust.

Each volunteer considering taking part in this year’s challenge will be required to raise €5,000.