Planting love to grow a community

Howick, KZN

The idea that several good initiatives working under one umbrella, while addressing different needs in a community, could spark a movement about building more good in a town is how Love Howick came into being. 

It was nine years ago, when one local resident decided that it was time to give a bit more love and effort to a one-time tourist town that had over the past two decades become rundown and neglected by the municipality and the community. Love Howick was created as a “platform” to be about building partnerships, taking action and to keep moving in the direction of uplifting and helping more people.

What was the problem?

The town of Howick, founded in 1850, is steeped in history and is located in a part of KwaZulu Natal known for its scenic beauty. But over the past two decades the town has deteriorated and started to slide into disrepair. It also had the curse of crime and grime.

As tourism dwindled, businesses left the town, adding to more unemployment, more crime and further decline.

The Sowetan reported in 2019 of businesses signing a petition to compel the uMngeni municipality and Department of Tourism to put the Howick Falls back on the tourist map. Locals organised clean-up events hoping to protect infrastructure and give the area a makeover, but the impacts were short-lived.

How did they solve it?

A local resident took a decision in 2015 to set up Love Howick. Matthew Hogarty founded the Love Howick platform with a vision to create partnerships for key sectors of need in his community. It was grounded in Hogarty’s pillars of church, family, government, education, business, media and the arts.

“‘Love Howick’ is not just a catchy slogan, but an inspiring mission to see our community transformed”, its Facebook page states. Over the years, the projects have been set up under what’s been called the Dream Centre. The centre offers skills training and support for the unemployed. There’s also a recycling programme; a clothing provision outlet; and an environmental upliftment and clean-up initiative called Renoverge.

There have also been urban gardening projects, a grief and trauma counselling service and a positive news and media campaign to highlight successes rather than to dwell on the negatives.

Love Howick has kept going through the years by building relationships across the community and through responding to the varied needs in the community.

Hogarty, quoted in The Witness, said of the project: “We desire to bring hope to our communities and that is only going to happen when we put aside petty politics and start working together with action that results in measurable change.”

Some of their successes recorded for the 2023/2024 period include training 555 job seekers, creating 197 jobs, supporting 60 entrepreneurs and having 238 volunteers donate 11,424 hours to Love Howick projects.

They cleared and cleaned up 2.2 million square metres of public land, planted 1,086 trees and cleared over 380,000 invasive alien plants. They also collected, sorted and recycled 51,895 tons of waste.

What made it work?

• Putting an idea into action - One person put into gear his plan to restore hope for his hometown. It had the intention to reach as many people in need as possible in Howick. By being a platform people can benefit from but also add to it, keeps a two-way flow of helping each other. 

• Co-ordination - A platform is also a way to co-ordinate several programmes simultaneously, which was important to create a network within Howick. 

• Momentum from successes: They built a presence using the “Love Howick” brand. They started with one project at a time that could demonstrate success, create interest and then attract funding.

• Communicating data: They collect information about successes of projects and initiatives and communicate this so people have data on the impact of Love Howick projects. 

• Finding funding and partnerships: They focused on funding through donations, as well as from corporate sponsorships and partnerships. This has ensured funding for longer-term sustainability.

• Working the socials - They built an online and social media platform. The online platform gives information, updates and keeps people connected. It includes details on how to donate and tries to match job seekers with potential employers. 

• Using the media  - They generated media attention around the idea of  “Love Howick”, keeping this in the public eye to build more awareness and support within and beyond the  KZN town.

Acknowledgements

Author: FixLocal Reporter

Original articles/ sources:

Love Howick celebrates partnerships for positive change Love Howick website  

Photograph: Love Howick