“Scoping for Impact: Uncovering What Boksburg Needs”

Before we act, we listen. That’s the ethos behind the ‘Everyone Gets to PLAY’ model’s scoping process, a community-led journey that ensures real needs shape real solutions. In Boksburg, our implementing partner ACFS Community Education took this to heart, leading a deeply immersive scoping process that didn’t just gather data - it uncovered opportunity, challenge, and human urgency.

“From the moment we stepped into Boksburg, you could feel the need,” reflected Jabu Mthembu-Dlamini (Community work Lead at DO MORE FOUNDATION). “Children were on pavements, in streets, sitting with parents at roadside stalls. You didn’t need a formal survey to see the urgency, it was in plain sight.”

What does scoping look like in practice?

While the DO MORE FOUNDATION provides the guiding framework through our Scoping Terms of Reference, it’s our partners who bring this framework to life. In Boksburg, ACFS led the charge - recruiting local youth as data collectors, developing participatory tools, and blending quantitative rigour with on-the-ground intuition. These youth, drawn from the very communities we aimed to serve, were recruited and trained in data ethics, research tools, and community entry strategies. Armed with clipboards and local knowledge, they stepped into homes, ECD centres, street corners, and ward meetings - gathering not just numbers, but insights.

“Having young people from the community collect the data builds trust,” said Rebotile Matoane, Assistant Programme Manager: ECD at DMF. “Parents are more open, principals more willing, and the information far more authentic.” Guided by DMF’s framework and enriched by ACFS’s deep understanding of local realities, the process balanced structure with heart.

What the scoping revealed in Boksburg

The results were stark. Over 6,900 children aged 0-5 had no access to ECD services. Among the 87 centres visited, nearly half were in poor condition - lacking safe water, toilets, learning materials, or qualified staff. More than 100 of 133 practitioners interviewed lacked an NQF Level 4 qualification, and 75 had never received formal training.

“I’ve been running my centre for five years,” shared Jabulile, a practitioner from Thokoza. “But I’ve never attended any training. Everything I know is from experience. I do my best, but I wish I could do more.”

Hunger and malnutrition surfaced as urgent and interconnected issues. Over 50% of centres did not offer structured meals. Stunting, poor growth, and obesity due to high-starch diets were common among children.

“What hit us the hardest was the food situation,” shared Bertha (Executive Director at ACFS). “Kids were arriving hungry and staying hungry. You can’t talk about early learning without talking about nutrition.”

Parental support was another major gap. 66 of the centres offered no structured caregiver support, and many parents didn’t view ECD as essential before Grade R. There were almost no functioning playgroups or day mother programmes on the ground, despite strong demand.

What we learned about child protection and play

Scoping also revealed a severe gap in child protection. Children were often seen playing unsupervised on busy roads, with very few formal mechanisms to report neglect or developmental delays. In one incident, Rebotile described seeing two little girls sitting alone on a curb by a main road - no adults in sight.

“If something had happened to them, who would know? Who would help? That’s the reality,” she said.

Learning through play (central to the Everyone Gets to PLAY model) was also largely misunderstood. Only 37 centres had outdoor play areas, and many had no access to age-appropriate learning materials. Caregivers expressed confusion about combining Grade R and RR in the same space, often due to a lack of resources or training.

From insight to action

This is where the scoping process shines. ACFS’s work has provided DMF and our broader coalition of partners with a clear, community-defined roadmap for action.

Five priority baskets of services have emerged:

1. Nutrition – urgent need for feeding schemes, food gardens, and education

2. Parenting support – to empower caregivers as their child’s first teachers

3. Infrastructure – safer buildings, water, sanitation, and cooking facilities

4. Practitioner training – with a focus on play-based learning and developmental stimulation

5. Child protection – formal referral pathways and local awareness building

These needs are not theoretical - they’re lived, visible, and immediate. Thanks to ACFS’s leadership, we’re starting from a place of genuine understanding.

Why early-stage investment matters

For funders and business partners, this is the moment to lean in. Investing in scoping isn’t just admin, it’s impact. It ensures the services we fund are aligned with what communities actually want and need.

“It’s tempting to jump straight to solutions,” said Bertha. “But if we hadn’t scoped properly, we would’ve missed so much. The real needs. The root causes. The right starting points.”

These efforts now pave the way for lasting systems change in Boksburg and beyond.