Nils Heckscher, Managing Director

This accommodation provider has taken action to address one or more issues (whether environmental, social or cultural) which will contribute positively to the long term viability of the destination and hence their site displays a Caring for the destination rating.

Main area of focus in Caring for the Destination:  

The Winchester Mansions Hotel supports various charities

Detailed description of the Caring for the Destination Initiative: 

Hotels Housing Trust

Winchester Mansions Hotel supports the Hotels Housing Trust, which was started in 1998. Visitors from the UK, with connections to the Gatsby Family Charitable Trust, wanted to do something to help provide housing for destitute shack dwellers that live near the airport and the outskirts of the City of Cape Town.

A brown paper brochure is put into hotel bedrooms in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It offers guests an opportunity to contribute towards housing for the poor and needy. Every cent of the donation goes towards building houses as Gatsby pays for all the administration costs of the Hotels Housing Trust.

For more information please go to http://www.hotelshousingtrust.com/

When ex-President Clinton visited a site where groups of women were building he said that their savings/building scheme should be copied world wide,  with the poor helping each other to build houses for themselves.

Street Smart

Harveys has, in the first three weeks of running with the StreetSmart idea, collected more than R1000:00. StreetSmart is an initiative which aims to contribute directly towards enabling street children to live a viable life in society. StreetSmart is a conduit fundraising organization that distributes funds to existing charities working with street children, namely The Homestead, Ons Plek and Learn to live. The funds are raised through participating restaurants. StreetSmart is a new income stream for these three beneficiaries.

The charities receive some funding from the government, which is only enough to keep the child. It is the intention of StreetSmart South Africa to generate funds for projects that support the greater process of social normalization. StreetSmart South Africa was launched in Cape Town in 2005.

Environmental Awareness

The Winchester Mansions Hotel was proud to be part of the South African Cleaner Production pilot project in the hospitality and tourism sector, initiated by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning. The project involved 9 hotels of various sizes, who all agreed to being audited over a one month period with regard to their energy and water usage as well as their refuse output. After completion of the audit, the Sustainable Energy Africa Consortium provided each establishment with recommendations and interventions to help improve their results on all levels.

Each hotel was then given time to implement the recommendations feasible in their establishment, and after doing so, began comparing the initial audit results with the results achieved through implementation of the environmentally friendly recommendations. The end results for the hotels were twofold, on the one hand substantial savings could be measured, and on the other, the environment benefited through recycling and efficient usage of natural resources.

Changes implemented by the Winchester Mansions Hotel included fitting water saving mechanisms in all toilets, requesting our guests to use their towels more than once, fitting energy saving lighting wherever possible and last but not least the separation of waste for recycling and the donation thereof to various organizations, including the Oasis Association, an association dedicated to enabling persons with intellectual disability to realise their fullest potential and thereby become as independent and productive as possible within their community.

The Winchester Mansions Hotel is proud to have been part of this very important project to ensure the lasting beauty and sustainability of our beautiful Cape Region not only for our children, but also for our visitors from across the globe.