14th of July 2005 Hog Hollow Country Lodge became the 13th property in South Africa to become Fair Trade in Tourism accredited. FTTSA encourages fair and responsible business practices.
10 May 2008, we received the Wilderness Foundation Green Leaf accreditation. This South African conservation and environmental non-profit organization, annually measures our impact on the environment with a target for improvement set for the following year’s independent audit & assessment.
Environmental:
- A robust recycling programme
- Vegetable waste is given to a local emerging pig farmer.
- An organic vegetable and herb garden and free-range chickens providing fresh eggs to the lodge.
- An ongoing de-wattling programme.
- Indigenous trees are planted throughout the year. Our property is 9 hectares, mainly of indigenous forest, and our main objective is to see that this is preserved from alien vegetation. sponsor the local National Sea Rescue Institute;
- Sponsor the Orca Foundation (Marine conservation) which is instrumental in teaching local communities the importance of looking after our marine heritage.
Social Responsibility
To our own staff: All our staff is sourced from within a radius of 50km. Staff is trained both in-house as well as at accredited courses in the various sectors of the hospitality industry, eg FTTSA accredited courses.
This is an on-going programme - eg cooking courses, first aid courses, management, administrative & front of house skills, basic hygiene, HIV Aids programmes, educationals, etc.
Four members of staff have travelled to the UK.
The Kids of Kurland: Kurland Village is a poor community approximately 10km from the lodge, with high unemployment and a low emphasis on education. With classrooms of between 60 & 90, children are already at a disadvantage. In order to assist this over-crowding, we pay the salary for a special needs teacher at the Kurland Primary school. For more information, have a look at their website: www.kidsofkurland.com
Sinethemba (We Have Trust) Gospel Group: Choirs form a very important social and cultural dynamic within the community and competitions run throughout the year & throughout the country.
We sponsored & assisted the group to arrange & produce a CD of their songs. These CD’s will enable them to generate funds for some basic requirements; eg uniforms, transportation and accommodation when travelling to tournaments.
Sound engineer & musician Gérard Rudschuck (who played with the likes of The Rolling Stones & Phil Collins) assisted us with the technical aspects of recording.
The final product will be on sale at the Lodge and other hotels and any other outlet the Sinethemba Gospel Group choose. All proceeds go to the choir.
Small projects in Kurland
- kit for a local soccer team;
- equipment for a local band, who have gone on to Johannesburg to seek fame and fortune!
- Fees for a student to study nursing.