Cambridge Youth Society (CYS) – Organisational Profile
Cambridge Youth Society (CYS) is a community-based non-profit organisation established in 2013 and formally registered in 2014. We’re Cambridge Youth Society, or CYS, a group of young members from Cambridge Village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We’re committed to combating poverty, and addressing the many challenges our community faces,
which are mostly the result of the long-lasting effects from apartheid — a system of legislation that upheld segregation against non-white citizens of South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Cambridge Youth Society was formed as a result of an incident that took place on our sports field, where 5 young men were burnt to death by angry community members. These men were accused of criminal activity in our community, but there is no visible policing in Cambridge, so the crime continued. As a result of this, we held a meeting in our community hall, specifically for the younger residents of Cambridge, to discuss the problems our community was facing and how we could work to address these issues. Ultimately, this led to the formation of Cambridge Youth Society on the 3rd of March, 2013. Our first programme was to undertake a household survey to establish the challenges within each family in Cambridge Village. We counted 8, 000 shacks during our survey, and found many problems, including:
- Gender-based violence
- Substance abuse
- Crime
- School dropouts
- High rates of teenage pregnancy
- Elderly people taking medication on empty stomachs
- Child-headed homes
- Unemployment
- Insufficient incomes
- Abandoned elderly and disabled people
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Following this survey, and after encountering many obstacles, we officially became a registered non-profit in 2014, so that we could be recognised by the government as a legitimate organisation. Cambridge Youth Society currently consists of 7 serving Board Members, 12 Management Committee Members, and 58 volunteers from our community, all of whom are working tirelessly to improve the lives of many. Our mission is to build our community through skills development so that we can work towards sustainable job creation and address the many challenges our community faces. Our vision is to foster a skilled community where everyone has equal employment opportunities so that they have financial security and self-sustaining futures. We are committed to creating a better future for ourselves and future generations and are positive that through our continued efforts, and with the support of our partners, we will continue to improve the lives of Cambridge residents and change our futures.
