Wild Coast Sun – Sun International’s only beachfront resort – has donated 110 mattresses to members of the Bizana communities that include Amadiba community, Ward 23, 24 and 29, MCPA.
Speaking about bedding donations, the resort’s SED Manager, Bandile Mdliva said, “Recently Wild Coast Sun was named Best Luxury Beach Resort in South Africa by Luxury Lifestyle Awards and as such we are surrounded by luxury at Wild Coast Sun with high quality linen, mattresses and furniture. We are faced with a conundrum when it is time to replace them, because they are still in very good condition. Instead of them going to textile and landfill waste sites, we feel that members of the community in need would benefit immensely.
“With regard to this donation, 110 extra-length mattresses ranging between double, queen and king sizes, have been gratefully received by families within our surrounding communities – who were either sharing beds between a number of people or not sleeping on a comfortable bed at all.”
The four-star resort has 396 hotel rooms, of which most have two sets of beds in them. Audits are regularly done of the furniture in the hotel rooms and in this case, Wild Coast Sun has replaced a large number of mattresses, with the existing ones, still in good condition, having recently been rehomed.
According to the World Sleep Society, which will be celebrating World Sleep Day on March 17, sleep is essential to health. “Just like eating well and exercising, sleep is a behaviour that is foundational to one’s physical, mental, and social well-being.”[1]
Wild Coast Sun focuses its Corporate Social Investment through a three-pronged approach – grant funding, Employee Volunteering and Giving (EVG), and in-kind donations.
We believe in playing a fundamental responsible role in improving the lives of the disadvantaged communities around us, and this in-kind donation of mattresses will certainly help a number of families with better sleeping arrangements.
“Sun International is also running a ‘Share the Warmth’ programme which this aligns nicely too,” said Mdliva.
The beneficiaries were identified by the Ward councillors from the three areas and the MCPA Executive committee assisted with the list, prior to Wild Coast Sun delivering the mattresses to their new homes.
The Amadiba community live in an unspoilt part of the stunningly beautiful Wild Coast, scattered with sand dunes, and in close proximity to the Wild Coast Sun. The resort is situated just within the Eastern Cape, just one kilometre from the Kwa-Zulu Natal border and boasts 750 hectares of natural bush between the Umtamvuna and Mzamba rivers overlooking the Indian Ocean.
