Family bursary trusts build a lasting foundation of support, and in turn make our country stronger, as Laurie and Estelle Dippenaar discovered when they started the Dippenaar Family Trust.

Over the past twenty years, the Dippenaars have helped approximately 350 Stellenbosch University (SU) students on their pathway to success through the bursaries provided by the family trust.

The Dippenaar Family Trust supports between 15 and 20 students a year, allowing these students to focus on their studies and not stress about the possibly of dropping out due to a lack of funding. Most of their recipients are first-generation university students without the financial resources to take this big step.

One such student is Siyabonga Ndlovu, who studied BComm Management Sciences and who wants to find ways to create real corporate social value in his future career.

 His dreams of social entrepreneurship would be just that – a dream – if not for the support received from the Dippenaar Family Trust.

 "When a student knows that their studies are covered in full, that there is no gap in funding or shortfall that they have to come up with, there is a confidence that bolsters them to focus on what needs to get done to overcome the challenges of the often gruelling academic year," says Arrie Hanekom, Head of Bursaries and Loans (Undergraduate) at SU.

If you are interested in setting up a bursary fund, either with your family or with a group of friends, call Nicoline Coetzer on 021 808 9160 or email nicoline@sun.ac.za. If you would like to make a once-off donation towards bursary support at SU, click here.