Chapter nine · 2026 and onwards
Hope in action today
A school, a music centre, a radio station, a bursary fund, a shelter — one hundred years of the same idea.
What began as one institute is now an ecosystem. Noorder-Paarl High School teaches on the original campus. The Frank Pietersen Music Centre trains the valley's young musicians. KC107.7 broadcasts to the valley. The bursary fund sends students to university every year.
The Athlone House of Strength grew directly out of the same five congregations: conceived in October 1999 by Ms Pat Martin and women from the Institute's member churches, and registered as a non-profit shelter in 2001. It works with women and children affected by abuse.
In July 2026 Dr Harlan Cloete was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Athlone Institute Paarl, and in August the Trust marked its centenary with a concert at Bethel Congregational Church — the church where, a hundred years earlier, part of the founding decision was taken.
“Over the past century, the Athlone Institute has done far more than educate learners.”
Sources for this chapter
- Partnerships and potential: Building Athlone Institute Paarl's second century, Sunday World, 15 August 2026 Read the source
- KYK: Met meesterlike musiek vier die Athlone Instituut Trust hul eeufees, eNCA, 2 August 2026 Read the source
- Athlone House of Strength — Home, Athlone House of Strength Read the source
- Athlone House of Strength — organisation profile, Western Cape Women's Shelter Movement Read the source