Welcome About Us About Fr Trevor Huddleston About Sophiatown Isithwalandwe

The dream of Father Huddleston was to see young people develop to their full potential - whether in music, mathematics, medicine or business.

Our programmes encompass leadership, inspiration and value-based approaches aligned to those of Fr Huddleston and those who worked for social justice and a non-racial society.

We also preserve and share the history of this area, and histories of the multi-cultural communities who inspired Fr Huddleston  throughout his life.

Our values are inspired by the life-long service of Fr Huddleston to the recognition of every person’s intrinsic and equal value:  we aim to operate with integrity, focus on service, value innovation and respect diversity.

Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Centre, 71 Toby Street, Sophiatown, Johannesburg, 2092 . Post: PO Box 468, Westhoven 2142.  

Email: thmcentre@mweb.co.za   Tel: +27 (0) 11 673 1271   Fax: +27 (0) 11 252 7976

Registered section 21 not-for-profit association no 2000/006377/08

The Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre. NPO no 020 393

             Patrons: Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Ambassador Abdul Minty, Rev Mpho Tutu

Hon Sophie du Bruyn MP, Emeritus Archbishop Khotso Makhulu, Esme Matshikiza, Sally Motlana.

Our new home in Sophiatown, the Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Building, was officially opened in September 2015, by elders and youth with links to Fr Huddleston, in the presence of families who had lived in Sophiatown before the forced removals, and residents who live there today.

Opening the building, music composer and icon Jonas Gwangwa cut the ribbon with Khadija Kgoleng whose grandfather was priest and Archdeacon of the area in Fr Huddleston’s day;

The building was funded through grants from the National Lotteries Commission, the national Department of Arts & Culture; donations from William Kentridge, Peter Vundla,  Mr and Mrs Douglas Board,  Zerbanoo Gifford, and many others;  and an enabling loan from Lord Joel Joffe, without which the project would not have succeeded.  Deep thanks to all who contributed to this new phase of the Huddleston Centre’s life.

The building is an environmentally ‘green’ building  which showcases alternatives  – it’s the first community designed building in South Africa with a focus on sustainable enterprise and celebrating diversity of culture.

For information on current events at the new site – known as Sophiatown theMix

go to www.sophiatownthemix.com

Find us:  71 Toby Street, Sophiatown.   E: Info@trevorhuddleston.org    call: 011 673 1271

Our commitment to the potential of young people:

The dream of Father Huddleston was to see young people develop to their full potential - whether in music, mathematics, medicine or business.  In partnership with the government’s Green Fund, Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre has established the first of its kind - a youth focused incubator for small businesses in the green economy sector.  Alongside our support for young creatives, we are excited to see this dream become realised.

 Mama Dorothy Masuku – Africa’s most prolific composer and performer- joined him with Mr Ali Hlongwane from the City of Johannesburg , partner to THMC in the national heritage house we operate as the Sophiatown Heritage centre (next door to the new building).  Sihle Zwane, a young current resident and Grace Mogorisi – a former resident, joined Isaac Meletse (chair of THMC) in welcoming people into the new spaces.  Over 400 people attended this special day with music, dancers, theatre and poetry.  Click here to go to our gallery page to see more photographs.

The Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Centre

We were founded in 2000, to carry on the work of Fr Trevor Huddleston, particularly among young people who were not yet able to access tertiary education or skills training.

 

Up to 2014, THMC supported more than 5,000 youth to find jobs, get business qualifications, complete university education, train in special creative industries such as photography and film acting and dance, develop IT knowledge and to implement youth projects.

 

Our network of partners made possible amazing cultural exchanges in Europe which have broadened horizons, build leadership capacity and inspired new connections which continue to impact on young people’s lives.

 

Now our work is delivered through our social enterprise and is open to everyone click here for more

Why Sophiatown?

Sophiatown and the western area neighbourhoods were historically famous particularly for their racially-mixed communities which were a hive of artistic, political, business and intellectual and cultural innovations from the early 1930s until apartheid legislation destroyed them beginning in 1955. Sophiatown was a celebrated freehold and the first area in South Africa to feel the force of apartheid’s Native Resettlement Act and Group Areas segregation.

 

Father Huddleston was sent to Sophiatown in 1943 to continue the education and pastoral work of his religious community , known as 'CR', which stands for Community of the Resurrection, based in the UK.  He was 30 years old and found a vibrant community which instantly took him to its heart.  You can hear more about people who affected Fr Huddleston, and about his impact on their lives, by visiting our site.  click here for details

 

By the time he was 42 years old, he had written a book about apartheid called 'Naught for Your Comfort'.  It was banned in South Africa but sold 250,000 copies all over the world, so many people came to hear about apartheid.  When Fr Huddleston returned to the UK in 1956 he committed to the struggle in new ways, and was one of the founding members of  the 'Boycott Movement' - the pre-cursor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK.