14 November 2008
	ENTREPRENEUR Clean breaks By Thebe Mabanga

Few people would be willing to give up a comfortable, affluent lifestyle to run an organisation dedicated to helping turn around the lives of young people with limited prospects. "We wanted to make a difference, to do something positive," says Lucian Russ, who was a financial planner in Bristol in the UK before moving to SA with his wife Beverly to run Township Trades. It is aimed at helping tackle environmental or social problems and trains young people in soap manufacturing while teaching "life entrepreneurship". Trainees earn up to R1 000/month. They learn to produce soap and are trained in life skills, computer literacy and sales & marketing. Russ says the enterprise has cost about R300 000 over the past year. It has been financed mainly through donations of cash and equipment or professional services. Township Trades recently landed an order with Woolworths to supply it with 4 500 bars of soap a month for three months, after which the contract will probably be renewed. The company also has an export order for 10 000 bars of soap to the UK. Russ says Township Trades needs a consistent 15 000 bars a month order to be sustainable. The trainees are drawn from Khayelitsha with the help of Umtha Welanga, an NGO, and are generally from households that are child-headed as a result of Aids. Russ says funding is the biggest challenge. He hopes his outfit will "give a new look to entrepreneurship in the township context".