Triathlon documentary seeks to raise funds for kids in need
MAKERS of a documentary detailing last year’s inaugural Calling Cape Town fundraising extreme challenge triathlon team on Friday night gave a sneak preview of their show, which they hope to feature on Netflix.
The triathlon is a sporting fundraiser event that involves swimming 8km from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand, completing the Cape Town Cycle Tour of 109km directly afterwards, and then tackling the Three Peaks Challenge, a 50km trail run with a combined elevation of 3km.
The calling Cape Town team raises money for Calling Education, a group which caters to children from underprivileged communities and which has since 2018 set up two schools in the Western Cape in a bid to improve access to quality education for these children.
During a pre-event cocktail function hosted at SunSquare Cape Town Gardens on Friday, the founder of the Calling Cape Town Extreme Challenge, Stephan May, introduced the sneak preview of the documentary and the team which features an alumni from the Calling Academy.
The documentary, which follows the journey of Calling Cape Town as a fundraising tool, tells the story of the Calling Academy, an all-boys high school situated at the corner of Polkadraai and Vlaeberg roads outside Stellenbosch.
Set up in 2018, this initiative has since spawned a co-ed Calling Academy, established in Kroonstad last year.
The filmmakers hope to pitch the documentary to Netflix, which will showcase South Africa on a global stage. During the event, Calling Education’s CEO Werner Cloete outlined the school group’s vision of developing and providing top-quality education to learners from low-income communities in South Africa.
A group of learners from the school also addressed the audience at the sneak preview to showcase their transformation via education at the academy and to encourage fund-raising.
Head boy Kaylin Daniels said: “The whole point of the academy is shaping a better future and creating leaders that don’t just sit still and watch things happen, but take action.”