Pioneer Rally celebrates its tenth anniversary!
The Pioneer School for the Visually Impaired in Worcester, the care capital of South Africa, hosts its tenth annual Pioneer Rally on the 14th of November 2015.
So where did it all begin? Mr Willem Venter was President of Worcester’s Rotary Club in 2005, while his son was a learner at the Pioneer School. Blind Rally’s were not actually an unknown sport at the time and Venter and the Rotary team seized the opportunity to host the first “Celebrity-Rally”.
The project has since been handed over to the Pioneer School and is currently one of the highlights on Worcester’s annual calendar. The service organisations in Worcester support the Rotary Club and Pioneer Rally every year, especially David and Lorna Reade. David Reade donates the trophies for the winners. Consisting of second and third place trophies, as well as a glass item for the auction.
Lorna Reade donated a special painting for this year’s auction – which you can view on the Pioneer Rally Facebook Page. Worcester’s Lions Club is responsible for the bar and all the funds generated are donated to the school.
The Pioneer School was established in 1881 and is currently serving learners with special educational needs in two focal groups, namely visually impaired learners and visually impaired learners with multiple learning barriers including deaf-blind learners.
Special needs education is very expensive and the profit generated through the Pioneer Rally is applied in aid of our learners.
This year, to celebrate the tenth anniversary, we offer our sponsors the opportunity to experience the day with a celebrity and visually impaired navigator from Audi Somerset West to Golden Valley Casino in Worcester. Space is limited.
37 Celebrities and 37 visually impaired navigators are part of this year’s Pioneer Rally. The rally starts at Audi Somerset West where each team receives an Audi for the day. The celebs, including Heinz Winckler, Nadine, Johan Stemmet, Kevin Leo and Riaan Cruywagen, are dependent on the braille route cards deciphered by their visually impaired navigator, to arrive safely (and on time) in Worcester.
Sarel van der Merwe, former rally and race champion, (better known as “Supervan”) is responsible for the layout of the route.
A gala dinner and prize giving ceremony at ATKV Goudini Spa will provide a glamorous end to the day. Guests get the chance to interact with the celebrities and navigators.
The renowned Margit Meyer-Rodenbeck (Dowwe Dolla) and Toks van der Linde are this year’s masters of ceremonies and the evening will include an auction and performances by a few of the celebs as well as learners from the Pioneer School.