Since its founding, Recorra has given away over half a million pounds to charity. Coming into 2025, we wanted to take our philanthropy international. This posed a new challenge, however: how to find a truly impactful organisation, when the beneficiaries were too far away for regular check-ins and audits.
The team at Recorra understood the risk of partnering with an inefficient charity that would use funds poorly, failing to deliver impact on the communities they sought to benefit. Back home, that kind of relationship would undermine the value of the contributions and reduce stakeholder trust.
So, we reached out to Ed Van Reenen, a trusted social value expert and waste management professional, to find a worthy recipient for donations.
Ed addressed these challenges by leveraging his due diligence skills and personal networks. His commitment to finding a partner that aligned with Recorra’s values led him to identify Umthombo Trust, a charity with a strong presence in South Africa’s Western Cape province, which had a reputation for impactful community work. He earmarked their annual program supporting local young people to participate in a nature-based learning curriculum as it was effective and aligned with Recorra’s environmental mission.
To facilitate a successful partnership, Ed conducted research and established relationships with key stakeholders at the Umthombo Trust. He ensured that donations were appropriately sized and targeted to the Rheenendal community, who are disadvantaged with high youth unemployment rates, limited resources in general, and few opportunities for nature-based experience. Additionally, he set up a reporting framework in collaboration with Recorra and the Trust to effectively communicate the value of the partnership to clients, thus reinforcing Recorra’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
As a result of the partnership, Umthombo Trust received £5,000 in funding, which enabled them to deliver their 2025 Eco Youth Circle (EYC) program. This supported educational outings, waste infrastructure improvements, and resources like laptops for research, fostering a more engaged and informed youth population trained in conservation skills. The initiative has the potential to directly address the urgent needs of the Rheenendal community, including cleaning up the local environment, improving hygiene and ensuring environmental stewardship.
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