Cotlands

Founded in 1936, Cotlands was originally created as a sanctuary for unwanted babies. It all started one night when a baby was left on the doorstep of Matron Dorothy Reece’s home in Mayfair, Johannesburg. She decided to take the infant in and care for it and out of this single act of kindness, Cotlands was born.

Over the years, Cotlands has grown into a national organisation, now operating in six provinces with a range of programmes extended to reach thousands of vulnerable little lives.

Today Cotlands offers a variety of residential and community-based programmes to meet the needs of vulnerable children. These programmes include paediatric hospices, places of safety, Home Based Care projects, nutrition and early childhood development centres. Because all these projects offer holistic care to children, each project has several components, including medical, physical, psychosocial, educational and emotional care, as well as antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes.

As each new component was added to their spectrum of programmes, they began to realise that for these interventions to be sustainable, training and support also had to be offered to the primary caregivers. Cotlands' ultimate goal is to equip families to care for their children at home and to achieve this, they must ensure that these families have the appropriate skills and sufficient resources. Cotlands have therefore continued to add more components to the services on offer - elements such as support groups, income-generating projects, food gardens, counselling, material aid, accessing of social grants and orphan care.

The result of these efforts have led  to the definition of their current mission: to provide exceptional models of care to children and their families, by empowering them to improve their quality of life through specialised interventions and sustainability projects. 

This trans-disciplinary, multifaceted approach demonstrates its effectiveness daily. Families that are floundering, children who are terminally ill, babies who have been abandoned - are all dealt with in a caring and professional manner that swiftly addresses their needs. The results prove that they really are making a difference. You can help them continue their outstanding work in the community, and ensure that every child born is wanted be someone.

For more information on Cotlans, contact them on 021 852 3527 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.cotlands.co.za