FROM TWO FOLDERS TO THOUSANDS OF LIVES CHANGED

By Flux Communications

Wendy Hill’s 30-year journey with Breadline Africa

In 1992, Wendy Hill stepped into a small office with little more than two lever-arch files on the desk. One marked “donations,” the other “general.” That was the beginning of what would become more than three decades of service to Breadline Africa, a journey that has quietly shaped thousands of young lives across Southern Africa.

“I can still remember Tony, one of our founding trustees, pushing the folders across the desk to me and saying, ‘This is it’,” Wendy laughs. “There was no real manual, no roadmap. Just a deep sense of purpose and belief that we were doing something important.”

Wendy had been working part-time for the legal firm where Tony Smyth, then Chair of Breadline Africa UK, was a senior partner. When the charity needed someone to take over day-to-day administration, her name was put forward. She got the job and never looked back.

Back then, Breadline Africa was a small, grant-giving organisation. The UK office operated just one day a week, with all communication done via fax or post. The early focus was on providing financial support to projects helping children, women and the elderly. Infrastructure support was limited to transporting second-hand containers to project sites.

By 2000, Wendy played a key role in leading a major transition when UK government reforms to Gift Aid opened up a new chapter for charitable fundraising. “It changed everything. We had to set up new donation systems, restructure how we worked and bring in new staff. It was a steep learning curve, but a huge turning point.”

A year before that, Wendy visited South Africa for the first time to meet some of the communities Breadline Africa supported. It was a trip that left a lasting mark.

“I had seen pictures, of course. But nothing prepared me for the scale of what I saw. The poverty. The resilience. The absolute need.”

She still recalls visiting an informal settlement that had sprung up beside a municipal dump near Atlantis. “People were working in terrible conditions, picking through rubbish for items to recycle. There was no water, no electricity. And yet, right there in the middle of it all, we placed a converted container to serve as a pre-school and a space for the community.”

That sense of impact, real, tangible change in real people’s lives, is what she says has kept her going.

Over the years, Wendy has seen Breadline Africa grow from a one-woman admin desk to a transcontinental team that builds classrooms, toilets and kitchens, with a strong focus on early childhood development.

She has watched centres like Nonhi’s Creche in Khayelitsha go from cramped backyard rooms to thriving pre-schools with proper infrastructure. She has supported countless staff, navigated waves of change and helped implement systems that enable sustainable impact.

Still, she believes the heart of the organisation remains the same.

“Frances Greathead, one of our original trustees, used to ask us: ‘Are you still making a difference in the lives of the poor?’ That question has always stayed with me. It’s what Breadline stands for, and I hope always will.”

Wendy’s story is not just about loyalty. It is about what happens when purpose, people and persistence come together over time. It is a story of someone who, without seeking the spotlight, has played a central role in building something that lasts.

If she could speak to her younger self, Wendy says, she would say: “You won’t believe this, but you’ll still be enjoying your job in 2025.”

And for those who ask why she’s stayed so long, her answer is simple: “It’s a privilege to be part of something that’s made such an enormous difference to so many.”

Fore more information, please visit www.breadlineafrica.org