Niall Melon Trust
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
We take a look at the Niall Melon trust and talk to some people involved about the amazing work they undertake to improve people's lives in South Africa.
The Niall Melon Trust is a charity set up by Niall Melon after he saw at first hand the dire conditions in which people were living in the townships across South Africa.
Niall Melon was so deeply touched by the warmth and dignity of the people in a Cape Town township, Imizamo Yethu, that he decided to act and established the Niall Mellon Township Trust in 2002. Niall Mellon personally donated one million euros to kick start funding for the charity and continues to pay for all administration costs while also making substantial donations.
In 2003 Niall organised the first of what was to become an annual one week Building Blitz for the charity.
SHARON CORR
Niall Mellon introduced himself to John Hughes, the Corrs manager on an airplane to Cape Town in 2003, when the Corrs were on route for the Nelson Mandela 46664 concert. That concert co-incided with the first ever Building Blitz, when 154 volunteers came to Cape Town for a nine day build. Niall told John about the Build and asked him to introduce him to the Corrs, and in turn told him about the project. Apparently, he convinced them to come to Imizamo Yethu and meet with the community and the builders there. So, they did and that's how their support of the NMTT began.
Obviously, Gavin also got involved at this time. He came to CT to surprise Sharon with a visit. He was staying in the same hotel as the builders and was surprised to see so many dusty and dirty Irishmen arriving into this quite posh hotel everyday. He asked them what they were doing and they convinced him to come to the township and build for a day. Gavin has been on every volunteer Blitz since and is a great supporter of the charity.
DAWN ASTIN
Dawn is a volunteer who has never been before. She is an Artist / Landscaper from Northern Ireland and will be painting a Mural in the 'Garden of Hope' which is being built in Freedom Park.
About Dawn
. Worked as a Garden Designer professionally for the past three years
. Worked with Diarmuid Gavin on his 'Suburban Garden Eden' Chelsea show garden in 2004 - awarded Silver Gilt.
. For over the past year Dawn has been involved in helping children in schools to design and set up sensory gardens.
. In some schools such as Roddensvale Special School, Crow's Nest and Culcrow Primary School she did artwork with the kids e.g. mosaic water features and patios, painting, designs, drawings, collages, environmental art, as well as garden designs and investigating the garden site and surrounding areas, and planting up to suit the various sites. The children involved were of all age groups and varying abilities.
. Dawn wants to help others especially children with design, gardening, visual and sensory arts and planting. Dawn wants to expand my experiences and skills into a wider field of endeavor and bring this back into our schools.
WHAT THE TRUST HAS DONE IN THE LAST 5 YEARS
In the last five years, the Niall Mellon Township Trust has built over 1185 houses in 4 townships in South Africa with volunteer numbers for the annual Building Blitz growing extensively year by year. The houses built provide homes for thousands of impoverished families, moving them from one roomed shacks to 2 and 3 bed roomed homes with a kitchen and bathroom, running water, electricity and sanitation.
In the countdown to the departure date, a final fund-raising push is underway for the 1350 men and women from across Ireland, each of whom has to raise a minimum of €4,000 in order to make the trip to build homes in some of the poorest shanty towns in South Africa.
The Niall Mellon Township Trust was established by philanthropist and property developer Niall Mellon in 2002 and aims to help the deeply impoverished in South Africa achieve the human right of a decent place to live and raise their children. Though the South African government has been actively involved in building some 2.1 million homes since the fall of apartheid in 1994, 2.4 million families are still in desperate need of housing.
Work by the Niall Mellon Township Trust continues on a year round basis, with 1700 South Africans employed by the charity, the majority of whom come from the townships in which the charity is building homes and communities. This year-round construction provides much needed employment in the townships in which the NMTT is based, and also follows the ethos of the charity which strives to provide training and skills to people. Since the Niall Mellon Township Trust was founded in 2002, the charity has developed and progressed rapidly. There are now three offices in South Africa- Cape Town, Blackheath and Johannesburg, thereby facilitating the growth of the NMTT's operation
NIALL MELON BIOG
Occupation:
Founder & Chairman of the Niall Mellon Township Trust.
Property Developer. CEO of the Earthquake Group.
1967 Born in Ireland
1988 . Established Mellon Financial Services Ltd
1989 . Designed Moneymate Financial Analysis, currently one of the European market leaders
1992 . Founding President of the Independent Mortgage Advisors Federation & negotiated a £75 million facility with
FNBS. Strategic move to property development
1997 . Established the Niall J Mellon Group
1998 . Strategic move to property development in the UK
2002 . Established the Earthquake Group of companies. Launched the Niall Mellon Township Trust. Appointed by the Irish Government onto the Ireland Aid Task Force.
Launched the Niall Mellon Township Challenge, the aim is encourage overseas volunteers to fundraise and volunteer to build houses for shack-dwellers in Cape Town.
2003 . Established Earthquake offices in the
UK and South Africa. Presented with the Irish Person of the Year Award
2005 . Received Doctorate of Philosophy from the Dublin Institute of Technology in recognition of his achievements to date.
2005 . Led the largest volunteer exodus overseas with the third Niall Mellon Township Challenge annual building blitz. Managed a group of 700 volunteers building 106 houses in two weeks
2006 . 350 volunteers to travel to Cape Town with Niall to work in the township, Mfuleni.
2007 . 1,350 volunteers signed up to the fifth annual building Blitz by the charity in Freedom Park, Mitchell's Plain. Acquisition of Marnol, a low cost housing company, allows NMTT to expand in Western Cape and Gauteng. 2007 target is to build 5,000 houses in South Africa. Plans are also well advanced to launch the world's first ever charity owned "Super Housing Factory".
PERSONAL:
HELPING OTHERS
From the outset of his business career, Niall has been actively involved in a number of projects benefiting both Irish and International charity organisations. His success in business has been matched with increased involvement in such projects and these have now become an integral part of his day-to-day operations.
BAOBAB TREE FACTS
. 8 species of baobab in the world
. 1 only in Africa - Adansonia digitata
. It grows on the dry savannahs in S. Africa
. A huge deciduous tree which can reach up to 30 mts in height and 15 mts in diameter
. Mature trees have their own eco-system by giving shelter, food and water for wildlife and humans. In fact for the wildlife it is comparable to a 5 star resort!
. Distinctive in appearance when bare of leaves it looks like it has been plucked from the ground and stuck back in upside down - hence its other name of 'the Upside Down Tree'
. During most of the year the tree stands leafless and bare, then twice a year the rains come and briefly it bears leaves and flowers, becoming full of activity with all the diverse wildlife inhabiting and feeding off the tree's bounty
. The flowers are white and when in full bloom during the night they attract fruit bats, then wilt the very next afternoon
. The bark is smooth and silver-grey with brown to purple colour variations
. This tree has amazing powers of regeneration, even when the lower trunk is stripped off it's bark by elephants, (this would be fatal for other trees) it heals it's wounds and produces new bark - thus it has become a symbol of resurrection
. Extremely long lived - some specimens are believed to be 3,000 years old!
. The baobab has a swollen, short bulbous trunk which is fibrous & spongy, and can store up to 30,000 gallons of water in the dry season