At GIBB we do everything with passion, whether it is constructing roads, designing water systems, or serving soup and handing out blankets. Getting involved in the lives of ordinary people within the communities we serve, and making a difference, for us that’s a priceless feeling of achievement.

GIBB’s fundamental Corporate Social Investment focus is on secondary and tertiary education. We promote the development of young female engineers (SAWomEng), and our Thusano project in the Western and Eastern Cape concentrates on strengthening Mathematics, Science and English aptitude in high schools through extra lessons after normal learning hours. We offer bursaries for tertiary education and support the African Academy where students are taught draughting skills. Our CESA Job Shadow Day introduces high school learners to engineering as a tangible career path, whereby learners are inducted into GIBB and then taken on site to experience firsthand what exactly engineers do within their communities and urban environments. GIBB is also actively involved with the CESA Young Professionals’ Forum which promotes the engineering field as a progressive and beneficial profession.

But while we continue to be very involved in the area of education, we also want to have an impact in the day-to-day living conditions of those people who more often than not are forgotten by society – the poorest of the poor who need our assistance.
 
A progressive outreach programme initiated by the Group CEO, Richard Vries in 2009, continues to grow, meaningfully affecting many lives. Our involvement is wide ranging; through the Manger Mission where we assist displaced, homeless and abandoned people who have no-one to turn to and no-where to go. Our Metro Evangelical Services (MES) initiative, aimed at changing the heart of the Johannesburg inner city, saw GIBB staff handing out blankets and manning soup and bread stations in bitterly cold conditions in Hillbrow. Protecting the vulnerable is an intervention that is very close to our hearts; through our participation in the Refilwe project we place abandoned and orphaned children into safe foster homes.

At GIBB, our CSI humanitarian projects are directed at alleviating the effects of poverty to enhance human well-being, but we can only achieve this through the generous actions of GIBB employees. Staff are regularly invited to participate and are involved first-hand in many humanitarian projects. In many of these projects – in fact the vast majority – staff dedicate their personal time to the communities in which we operate.

The sustainability of our outreach programmes is crucial as long term solutions - not short term fixes – are what people need to meaningfully improve their lives. Therefore helping people to help themselves is very important to us; we seek to equip the destitute with the means and ability to be self-sufficient. Through our compassion and care we try to restore dignity and hope, thereby contributing to a better quality of life for people in need.
 
Corporate Social Investment is not a buzz-word at GIBB. It is a dynamic philosophy that translates into action. We believe in building and constructing, not only with steel and cement, but also with heart and soul.


For more information please send your queries to marketing@gibb.co.za or visit www.gibb.co.za