Our first Heroes Against Crime competition, in which we honoured ordinary South Africans who’d helped to curb crime, remains one of the highlights of my time at YOU.
You may remember it, especially the inspiring stories of people who fearlessly leapt to the assistance of others in violent situations or helped end gang warfare in their communities, or the group of youngsters who probably prevented a farm attack by alerting defenceless older people of the danger. And there was the man who patrolled a notorious street every night with his dog and flashlight and saved at least one woman from being raped.
Heroes Against Crime was one of our first initiatives after we’d launched our Unite Against Crime campaign in 2006. From the start we planned to end the campaign in 2010, just before the start of the Fifa World Cup when the eyes of the world will be on SA. We also believed we’d be able to contribute effectively to making SA largely crime-free by 2010. Well, we certainly aren’t free of crime but our campaign has nonetheless had notable successes.
We’re grateful that the Checkers retail group, sponsor of our first competition, has again agreed to assist us in finding 2010’s crimefighting heroes to end the campaign in a positive way.
The winners will receive big cash prizes and there are prizes too for readers who nominate the winners – see the print issue of YOU for details. It’s up to you to nominate people who deserve to be honoured for their selflessness and courage. We’re looking forward to introducing readers to many new heroes!
Till next week
Esmaré