Every year, the Faculty of Humanities celebrates Madiba's birthday by extending a helping hand to a community in need. This year, staff spent Friday the 15th of July making sleeping bags for Cape Town's homeless as well as collating boxes of children's colouring books and crayons.

The sleeping bags, which are made from layers of newspaper and recycled plastic sheeting, were invented by Jo Maxwell who was on-hand on to talk about her invention and to demonstrate the process of making them.

The newspapers and children's books were collected from Humanities staff members over the course of two months and additional donations were sourced from local news agencies as well as the wider UCT community.

"We feel passionate about helping people in need and each year we try to do something meaningful, even if it is small" said Julie Luyt, Faculty Planning Manager.

Staff member Rio Williams models one of the completed sleeping bags

After several hours of hard work, the team produced a total of 34 sleeping bags which were delivered to the Claremont Night Shelter in Cape Town where they will make a difference to 34 individuals who would otherwise be sleeping in the cold this winter.

"With the freezing weather we are experiencing in Cape Town, the opportunity to help make sleeping bags for the homeless seemed ideal" added Laureen Rautenbach, Humanities Faculty Manager.

The childrens' books and crayons will be distributed to a children's home and needy crèches in the area.