ESTABLISHED
ABAGOLD DEVELOPMENT TRUST
The Abagold Development Trust was established in 2010, when the founders of Abagold decided to establish a Trust to support and help to uplift the communities where the majority of its employees reside. ADT focuses on the fields of Education, Training, Development, and Job Creation.
OBJECTIVES
OUR OBJECTIVES
The object of the Abagold Development Trust (ADT) is to develop and support the communities in Hermanus where the majority of the Abagold employees live and raise their children.
Its purpose, in particular is to create and improve educational opportunities for the children in these communities.
We believe that many of the children whose lives we touch in a positive way will grow up to be our future community leaders. Successful communities depend on the holistic development of their children, especially in the early years.
12.03.1953 - 21.8.2022
Tribute to Pierre Hugo
Not only was Dr Pierre Hugo the founding father of Abagold, but he was a most extraordinary human being. He was a man who, according to his family, carried a book of ideas around with him wherever he went. Whenever a new idea popped into his head, he would jot it down in the book and at the right time, he would give it a try. He was a qualified and practising vet, but as his wife, Jane says, “Pierre was an innovator, and as much an entrepreneur as he was a scientist; he was always on the lookout for some new and challenging project to develop.” One of these was to experiment with the spawning of abalone. He eventually sold the veterinary practice to devote himself full-time to this fascinating endeavour.
The idea was triggered by the wholesale poaching of perlemoen in the area, which was rapidly driving the mollusc to extinction; at the same time, many local, small-scale fishers were struggling to make a living from the sea.
From the beginning, he had a strong sense of responsibility towards the wider community and for him education and job creation were essential for the future development of Hermanus. This led to his establishment of the Abagold Development Trust in 2010, with the aim of reaching out to support educational and job creation projects in the disadvantaged communities of the Overstrand