Last year was hard for most people, to say the least. That’s why we’re so grateful that we were able to contribute around a quarter of a million rand to the six causes that our clients chose through the Naked Difference. This year we are even more grateful and excited to expand our reach and support further worthy causes in South Africa.
The Naked Difference ensures that when claims are lower than expected, we don't benefit – our clients’ causes do. We take a flat fee off their premiums and put the rest aside to pay claims. If there are fewer claims than we expect, we donate the excess money to causes chosen by our clients instead of keeping it as profit. Our income doesn't depend on how much we pay out in claims, meaning we can focus on providing great insurance to our clients as well as making a positive difference in their communities.
Last year, we had the privilege of supporting Greenpop, Oscars Arc, Living Legends, Door of Hope, Cotlands, and Christel House. You can read more about what these causes did with their payments here.
In 2021, we plan on making an even bigger Difference.
Our clients asked and we listened. Many of you got in touch with us to suggest more causes that we can add to the Naked Difference. We’re very excited to be able to extend our help to victims of gender-based violence, childhood cancer patients, struggling new mothers as well as supporting beach clean-ups and feeding schemes.
TEARS is a women-led organisation that offers 24-hour, nationwide, confidential support to victims of gender-based violence. They provide victims in need of immediate assistance with a free SMS service that is available to anyone who has a cell phone.
The assistance that TEARS provides is diverse and comprehensive: from help and support to leave a dangerous and abusive relationship, to help in obtaining a Protection Order and opening a police case. Their services also include individual counselling, group/couples counselling, support groups, shelters, medical care, as well as assistance with the police.
In 2020, TEARS provided direct support to 94 430 victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse across South Africa. They also reached 44 million people through their public service announcements and education on gender-based violence prevention.
We are so grateful to be able to partner with TEARS and help them help others.
TEARS 24/7 contact line: If you need help, please dial the free helpline number *134*7355#. Should you be in an emergency, select number 2, and the call centre will contact you immediately.
CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation SA is a non-profit organisation that supports children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer or life threatening blood disorders. They currently have 1 736 children in their care. CHOC aims to save lives through early cancer detection, but also make the journey of those who are affected by childhood cancer less burdensome for families through comprehensive support programmes.
Many families of the children who are diagnosed with cancer do not have the means to get to treatment centres or doctors’ appointments every week. Some families aren’t able to attend the treatment sessions, so CHOC assists these children and their families with professional emotional support, accomodation close to treatment centres, transport to and from the treatment centres, support groups, nutritional support, and they also make sure that the cancer survivors attend their follow-up care.
Cancer affects many South African families and we are glad we can add CHOC to the Naked Difference. Here is CHOC’s contact number: +27 86 111 3500. If you need anything else, just pop onto their website.
JAM (Joint Aid Management) is dedicated to helping vulnerable children and communities by providing nutritious meals for them. JAM feeds children in preschools but it also increases food security in communities by empowering families and individuals through multi-level training and extensive agricultural programmes. At the moment there are 120 000 children benefiting from JAM’s feeding programmes.
JAM’s programmes are developed with sustainability in mind, to not only meet the individual’s immediate needs but to also transform the landscape of the community for good. Their programmes include feeding, general food distribution, water and sanitation, livelihood support and agricultural development.
JAM is passionate about building a South Africa without vulnerable people – especially the young.
The Kolisi Foundation was founded by power couple Siya and Rachel Kolisi, and has a vision to “change narratives of inequality in South Africa”. The foundation seeks to support people living in under-resourced communities in South Africa by focusing on three core programmatic areas: food security, sports and education development, and gender-based violence.
Rachel and Siya’s motto for the Kolisi Foundation is that every small act matters and that by “remembering the one, one by one”, they will impact the nation.
The Kolisi Foundation actively supports community kitchens and school nutritional programmes, running GBV advocacy and awareness campaigns alongside their Power2You Pack initiative, plus developing various projects focusing on enhancing sports and education infrastructure in under-resourced communities.
Their mission is to effectively connect people, institutions and organisations through evidence-based education and experiential learning, with the goal of keeping South Africa’s beaches clean and healthy, and protecting and enhancing ocean health. Building ocean communities that care about marine and human health is currently their focus.
They work with single-use plastics at all points of the value chain: removing them from the beach, refusing them when making purchases, working with brands and companies who want to use less plastic, and encouraging manufacturers to design plastic packaging with a circular economy in mind.
The Beach Co-op also has a really cool app called the Dirty Dozen Cleanup™. It’s designed to be used to collect rigorous data that supports the call for change to the way we buy, use and discard plastics.
Download the Marine Debris Tracker App on IOS or Android.
Select “Tracking” and choose “The Beach Co-op”.
Log your Dirty Dozen items as you clean up the beach.
Add a description of the cleanup (pointers are given)
Press submit!
Surfpop started by taking children from Masiphumelele Township, who were vulnerable to the challenges in their township, to surf once a week. Soon this grew to a comprehensive after-school programme that Surfpop still offers today.
Surfpop aims to give children from South African townships the best chance at living life to the fullest by being active, healthy, and in touch with nature. They aim to give these children access to sustainable employment after school to truly lift themselves out of poverty and positively affect not only their families, but social networks and community. Surfpop’s three programmes include surfing, education, and nutrition.
The Baby Box Project seeks to instil hope in new mothers in South Africa who lack a support system, often face desperate poverty and do not have the means to care for their babies. These mothers often feel hopeless, desperate, and without joy for their newborn baby. The Baby Box Project works with public hospitals to deliver hampers to help new mothers to care for their babies.
A “Baby Box” is a reusable bag containing essential toiletries and clothing for a newborn baby. These boxes filled with hope, love, and essential items are dropped off at hospitals in and around the Johannesburg area, specifically the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. Each visit sees 30-40 Baby Box Bags delivered to moms with newborn babies. For many moms this is a turning point, and they then have the courage to take on motherhood with fresh commitment.
If this sounds like something you want to get involved in, they have a list of the things that go into the Baby Box here. You can then drop it off at one of their two locations in Johannesburg. If you don’t live in Jo’burg but still want to contribute, their banking details are available here. There is also a Snapscan barcode you can use to donate directly.
The Naked Difference allows you to make a Difference without taking money out of your pocket – all you have to do is switch your insurance to Naked and select a cause that connects with you on the Naked app.