Earlier this year, Brighter Events worked with Concepts Collection to deliver a memorable experience for delegates attending the inaugural One Global Community Partner Event in South Africa, which included a life changing community engagement and social responsibility project.

We delve into the details…

Background & brief

Launched in 2022, One Global Travel is a worldwide community of independent travel management companies working together to deliver an all-in-one global travel solution for clients.

One Global wanted to bring all its partners and suppliers together in person for the first time after a whirlwind first 18 months of working together. Clarity Business Travel is one of the two founding members of One Global, and its conference, meetings, events, and venue-find arm Brighter Events was asked to deliver the organisation’s inaugural Community Partner Event in 2024.

As well as enabling everyone to hear updates from One Global, and the rest of the community, the event needed to include networking sessions between partners and suppliers.

“We pitched various destinations and then focused on South Africa as our preferred place to host the event. We needed to deliver on, and align with, One Global’s goals and what they stand for as a business,” says Kate Wolstenholme, head of marketing and proposition at Brighter Events. “Strengthening the business relationships between all delegates was the priority and this was achieved further with community activities which included everyone.”

Brighter chose to work with DMC Concepts Collection to help deliver the program. “We wanted to show off how wonderful the country is while helping strengthen and forge the links within our One Global community,” explains Wolstenholme.

“Concept Collection’s multinational team have extensive experience of organising luxury, bespoke events thanks to their passion for South Africa. This passion really shone through and with the local knowledge of venues and activities, as well as the attention to detail, they were able to help us an event to live long in the memory of all the delegates.”

The Solution

“The Retreat” at Boschendal Farm in the Cape winelands was the perfect venue for the event. An isolated conference space set amongst landscaped gardens and natural vegetation, with stunning views of the surrounding mountains and vineyards, the Retreat is part of the 200-hectare Boschendal Farm.

It has been designed in line with the “at one with nature” sustainable practices, regenerative farming and community development philosophy of the overall estate.  Linked together by a maze of pathways through the gardens, Cottage style accommodation is set apart from the central conference and dining spaces at the Retreat, giving delegates a true sense of space and tranquillity.

Whilst providing the focus for the conference itself, the winelands region and the other attractions at Boschendal enabled the Concepts Collection team to curate some delegate experiences and activities that really built on the overall brief. Curated group dinners with surprise entertainment, drumming circles and blind wine tasting competitions helped foster the community building and activities like mountain biking, hiking and walking tours highlighted the beauty of the winelands.

Community engagement and Social Responsibility project

The overall highlight of the week however, for both the client and their delegates was the social responsibility project designed for them.

“From the start the clients were very keen to develop their own community theme by both donating to and supporting a disadvantaged local community, where delegates could actively engage and add value. We spent time with the Boschendal Education and community outreach team to identify a project that could benefit the most and we decided on Nondzame primary school in the local village of Pneil, near Stellenbosch,” says Holt.

The school is home to 200 local children from disadvantaged communities and suffers severely from little state funding, with prefab classrooms in a poor state of repair, a tiny kitchen with lack of amenities and no running water. Learning facilities were also poor and there were no play areas, classroom desks and chairs were broken, no black boards and few learning materials.

“I spent several hours in the school, talking to the children and teachers and was taken by the children’s desire to feel proud of their school,” says Holt.

With an agreed donation from One Global Travel, a project was developed that would fund and then engage the children, conference delegates and the maintenance and gardening teams at Boschendal in improving the school facilities, repairing and painting classrooms, bringing in new equipment and blackboards, updating the kitchen with plumbing, a new stove, fridge facilities and storage areas, clearing areas for a playground with sports equipment and creating and planting a vegetable garden.

Preparations were made a month ahead and on 13 June, the 50 delegates arrived at the school where 100 children were there to meet them for a day of sweat and toil in revamping the school.

After a morning of hard work, everyone joined together for a shared lunch which had been funded by Brighter Events and prepared in the new kitchen by the school staff and delegates. During lunch, people played soccer or netball together, others watched whilst other groups just sat and chatted with each other as new friends.

“It was an amazing day that showed the power of human connection, a hugely uplifting, emotional and fun day, everyone put their hearts and souls into it and created some real magic. The children were hugely stimulated by the interaction with the delegates, and you could feel a new sense of pride immediately in their school environment,” adds Holt.

Results & feedback

The event delivered on its objectives, says Wolstenholme. “Business opportunities were most definitely strengthened between our TMC partners and suppliers which has sparked new opportunities. We wanted to create a conference experience away from the norm one that captured the ethos of One Global.

“The spirit of community, social responsibility and sustainability were therefore key themes, we really wanted to create something special for the delegates to remember and the community engagement day at Nondzame school was an unforgettable day for all our delegates. I think that was the icing on the cake and the feedback we have had on the whole event has been great.”

Erika Moore, President of World Travel Inc, founding member of One Global adds: “This has been outstanding and emotional. I knew World Travel was very special, but I had no idea how special One Global was. I am really touched, the conversations we have had, the commitment to one another and the ability to help support our businesses above and beyond – this is just the beginning.”

The delegates raised further funds in the art auction over dinner and many also donated further amounts personally. As a result, since the event, One Global has created a fund to support ongoing development of the school and the children and are keen to stay close to the project.