The best time to build a culture of giving back is before someone's first pay cheque

Faye Pillai, Senior Programme Manager

• CLIENT: Standard Bank CA(SA) Training Programme
• NPO PARTNERS : CEEP, Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital, FADA (University of Johannesburg), Boepakitso Primary School
• TRAINEES INVOLVED – 38+ across first-year to third-year cohorts

Why grads are the hardest and most important group to get right

Most CSI teams build their volunteering culture around people who are already established: people with tenure, a sense of where they fit, and time they've learned to carve out. Graduates are the opposite of that. They're new, unsure of the unwritten rules, and focused on proving themselves technically. It would be easy to assume CSI isn't on their radar in year one.

Standard Bank's CA(SA) Training Programme proved the opposite. Over the course of one year, trainees many still in their first year on the programme, didn't just attend a volunteering day. They identified needs, initiated projects, led logistics, and kept coming back to the same partners months later. That's not participation. That's culture, built from day one.

It started with a hospital passage nobody wanted to walk through

The programme partnered with CEEP and the University of Johannesburg's Faculty of Art & Design to repaint parts of Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital, a dental clinic and the first-floor passage linking the paediatric wards. The project was initiated by Bopanang Mokoena, a third-year trainee, and ran over two months from site visit to final brushstroke.

The brief came from Matron Rose, Head of Nursing, who had watched the dull, clinical passage weigh on already-anxious patients and families. Honours art students from FADA spent four days designing and painting the murals, working directly with hospital staff to figure out how to transform a busy working hospital without disrupting it. Forty Standard Bank trainees joined the painting day itself.

The result, in Matron Rose's words: "It is exactly what we envisioned and more. We did not want it to look like a clinical space but a happy place."

What makes this a grad story and not just a hospital story is who kept it going. One trainee, Merlu Maspa, put it simply: "Knowing that the colourful and refreshed surroundings could bring a smile to a child or make someone's hospital stay a little easier was incredibly rewarding."

Then it became a habit, not a one-off

The relationship with the hospital didn't end when the paint dried and neither did the trainees' involvement. As winter approached, the same group of graduates organised a Blanket Drive: sourcing suppliers, handling payment and delivery logistics, and coordinating with the hospital directly. 246 blankets were bought and delivered to the gynaecology ward, chosen specifically because it receives the least funder support.

Then, for Women's Month, first-year trainees led a Pad Drive entirely on their own initiative: unpacking stock, organising a packing venue, coordinating volunteers, and delivering 200 packs, each with 48 pads, to girls at Boepakitso Primary School, alongside a motivational talk to the learners themselves.

Three different causes. Three different skill sets: design and painting, supply-chain coordination, logistics and public speaking. One constant: it was graduates, some in their very first year, identifying what was needed and running it.

What the trainees actually said

"Through volunteering, I've gained a greater appreciation for the importance of community, teamwork and giving back... volunteering is not only about what we give to others, but also about what we learn and gain in return." - Ebube Anazodo, first-year trainee

"These initiatives reminded me that making a positive impact does not always require grand gestures. Sometimes, simple acts of service, kindness, and generosity can bring