Quick links to Walks & Donations

This October, please complete the Walking Roster and join the daily walk from Vredehoek to the Blockhouse.

And please donate to help us reach the target to help the Saartjie Baartman Centre's Entrepreneurship Fundraiser.

To report an incident of abuse in South Africa, call

• the Saartjie Baartman’s WhatsApp number 076 470 9314
• Rape Crisis: 021 447 9762
• Lifeline: 0800 150 150
• Childline: 0800 05 55 55 (24h) or 
• the National Shelter Movement Helpline: 0800 001 005

Read other blogs in the series

Join walks in October — Details & roster

Add your name on the days / times that you may be able to join the walk - on the Walkers’ Roster.

• Trouble with the roster? Email your walk days/times to: blocktober2025@gmail.com.

Daily schedule

• For route maps and starting PINs, see below photo
• Mon-Wed: usually 16:30 - Jeep Track or Canon Route
• Wed: 15:30 - Jeep Track or Canon Route
• Thu-Fri: usually 06:00 - Jeep Track or Canon Route
• Sat: 18 Oct 8am form Rhodes Memorial
• Sat: 25 Oct 16.30 from Tafelberg Rd
• Sun: usually 08:00 - Jeep Track
• Walkers joining the Sunday 26 Oct walk are invited to a complementary pizza or pasta at Bella Italia in Vredehoek afterwards (T&C apply).
• Time taken usually 2 to 2.5 hours, depending on walkers' speed
• Request to join the Walks WhatsApp group, and check it for updates.

Routes and PINS for starting points:

• Map of all four routes together.
• Jeep Track route: From Vredehoek (mountain end of Chelmsford Rd), to Blockhouse. Click this PIN for starting point.
• Canon route: from Vredehoek to Blockhouse: Same as Jeep Track, but via canons. 
• Tafelberg Rd route: Click this PIN for starting point.
• Rhodes Memorial to Blockhouse - two options: Route A and Route B. Click this PIN for starting point.

• Note: We may not be able to walk unless there are enough of us - we'll confirm via Whatsapp, if you provide your number on the Roster.

Safety and keep-healthy tips:

• Walk in comfortable shoes/boots.
• Bring something for the heat (hat & sunblock), and something for the cold and rain (water proof). 
• Bring water and a snack.
• Bring curiosity - we will walk at the pace of the slowest and stay together.   
• Leave your valuables behind - I have a donated phone so we are able to call in an emergency and no one else needs to bring a phone (but obviously your choice). 
• Track your walk on Strava using your own device. If you leave your device behind, ask me to share the Strava walk with you.
• Our best safety is a numbers - please encourage others to join. Bring your dog.
• Thank you to the Saartjie Baartman Centre for some Power2You safety bags which include pepper spray and whistles.   

Alternatively, ride, run or swim wherever you are.

Read other blogs in the series

COMBINED BAROMETER: Blocktober Saartjie Baartman (SBC) Fundraiser 2024–25

This barometer combines donations made via Back-a-Buddy and those paid directly to SBC in 2024–2025 as part of this campaign. (Back-a-Buddy’s built-in barometer also shows this, but there can be a lag before offline/direct donations are reflected.)

On a mobile phone, if you cannot see the shortfall, pull the graph to the left.

There will be minor differences in totals when this barometer and the numbers on the Back-a-Buddy site are compared, because of slightly different treatment of exchange rates from payments made in USD.

Please donate.

Back-a-Buddy + Direct totals • Remaining (shortfall) in red • Updated regularly

Read other blogs in the series

Donate - Saartjie Baartman Entrepreneurs Fundraiser

• Donate via Back-a-Buddy to help fund a full‑time Entrepreneur Manager at the Saartjie Baartman Centre (SBC) for GBV survivors and ancillary costs for the Blocktober CHIPS community gym.

• The additional Back-a-Buddy tip is optional and supports the platform itself, not Blocktober specifically. To adjust it from the default tip of 12%, move the Back-a-Buddy slider to R0 or any amount you choose.

• International donations paid in USD include a mandatory 5% currency-conversion fee.

• Our daily target for new donations is R11 000. Please help us reach it. See the donation status discussion as it was on 11 October 2025.
• How are we doing? See the Combined Barometer here.
• Please donate via Back-a-Buddy in preference, since that makes it easier to track donations for this campaign.
• Donors from SA accounts: email finance@womenscentre.co.za for a tax free donations certificate. Use Blocktober and your surname on Back‑a‑Buddy so the SBC can verify your donation.
• If you prefer to donate directly to SBC, take these three steps:
• 1. Banking details: 

Name:   Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children

Name of Bank: First National Bank; Type of Account: Current account

Account No. 62028179415; Branch: Rondebosch; Branch Code: 201509

Branch address: Fountain Centre, Main Road, Rondebosch, 7700

• 2. Use "Blocktober" + your surname as the payment reference; and 
• 3. Be sure to send proof of payment to blocktober2025@gmail.com.

Saartjie Baartman Centre Registered NPO: 014-121. Approved PBO: 930 001 815

Read other blogs in the series

Choose your activity — Walk, Run, Ride or Swim

• Walk, run, ride or swim any day in October at a time and place that suits you (anywhere in the World). You could try to match the equivalent of 300m ascent over 7.5km, or swim 31 minutes or 31 laps (775m). 
• If you are in Cape Town you can join one of the following, usually to the Blockhouse:
• Join the daily walk from Vredehoek to the Blockhouse. Get info here.
• Join the Tuesday Blockhouse time trial runners and cyclists during October (7^th, 14^th, 21^st and 28^th) who start at 5.40pm from the end of Chelmsford Road in Vredehoek to the Blockhouse and back. For more information contact Paul Jacobs on 0837083678 or Paul72jacobs@gmail.com.
• Join the special Sunday Solidarity hikes with the survivors of GBV which occur on the Sundays 5th, 12^th, 19^th and 26^th October. Details will be provided on the Blocktober WhatsApp group. 
• Join the Whatsapp Group for information and sharing. If you dont have it, download and install Whatsapp. Click "Join Chat".
• Post your pics and news re activities on the Whatsapp Group.

What is the Saartjie Baartman Centre ?

• The Saartjie Baartman Centre (SBC) for Women and Children, located in Manenberg Cape Town since 1999, manages a 24-hour crisis response pro­gramme, residential shelter / housing for abused women and children, psycho-social support including children’s counselling, a sub­stance abuse programme, accredited job-skills training and access to entrepreneurial opportunities.
• Saartjie Baartman Centre adopted the name of Saartjie Baartman to honour her memory.
• Since 1999, SBC has supported over 270,000 women and children survivors of Gender Based Violence. The Centre reaches millions in its outreach and advocacy work aimed at fostering safer, more informed communities. 
• One of the key challenges faced by women, when they return home, is to be financially independent. The Saartjie Baartman Entrepreneurial Hub, supported by the Kolisi Foundation sows POWER2YOU safety bags, designs bespoke beaded bracelets, sold via Black Betty, a South African based jewellery and piercing studio, and provides diverse Skills Training. Other organisations offering job placements include the retail stores Spar and Woolworths.
• Much more is needed.   
• By employing a full time Entrepreneur Manager, SBC can scale up entrepreneurial opportunities for women. 
• More about the Entrepreneurial Hub. 

Why not read the blogs you have missed?

What is Blocktober?

• Blocktober is a humble but determined Cape Town-based movement of people against gender-based violence (GBV), started in 2020. We come together every October to walk, run or ride to the King’s Blockhouse on the slopes of Table Mountain, or to swim, as an act of slow-burn solidarity with survivors of GBV.
• People living anywhere can join, wherever they are, by doing local, equivalent ascents (approximately 300m ascent over 7.5km or by swimming 31 minutes or laps). Over past Octobers the Blocktober founder cyclists rode over 20km daily for 31 days, and more than 2x the height of Everest.

 

Read other blogs in the series

The Hard Truth

• One in three women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
• An average of 146 sexual offence cases are reported daily in SA, most of these being rape.
• Only about 14% of reported cases go to trial and of these, 7% are successful.
• GBV in SA is five times higher than the global average.
• Sarah Baartman (c. 1789 – 1815), also spelled Sara, sometimes in the Dutch diminutive form “Saartje”, was a Khoekhoe woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus, a name that was later attributed to at least one other woman similarly exhibited. Saartjie’s remains were repatriated to SA in 2002 for a proper burial. Today she is a symbol of resilience and many honour her memory - thus the Saartjie Baartman Centre adopted her name.

If you need to report an incident of abuse in South Africa, call:

• the Saartjie Baartman’s WhatsApp number 076 470 9314
• Rape Crisis: 021 4479762

• Lifeline: 0800 150 150

• Childline: 0800 05 55 55 (24h) or 

• the National Shelter Movement Helpline: 0800 001 005.

Read other blogs in the series

Use Strava to record your Blocktober activities

Join us in October 2025 to support victims of Gender Based Violence (GBV) through solidarity, exercise and donations 

1) Record your activities in support of Blocktober on Strava

• This builds a sense of community and joint effort in solidarity and awareness‑raising. 

• Record your activity on Strava on your device and join a Blocktober Club.

• If you didn't use Strava before, install the Strava app from Google Play or App Store and create a free account and then record your activity.

• If you can't record on your device or forgot to, add the activity manually or with the help of a friend. How to?

2) Join these Blocktober Sister Clubs

• Search for "Blocktober" under Groups → Club and join all three Blocktober Clubs. This will cover you for all these sporting options.

Blocktober Cycling

incl road, MTB, gravel, virtual and e‑bike.

👉 Join the Cycling club

Blocktober   Run / Walk / Hike
including virtual; trail runs count as runs.

👉 Join the Run/Walk/Hike club

Blocktober Swim

Pool and open‑water

👉 Join the Swim club

3) Make your activities count

• Strava Settings → Privacy controls, set Activities = Everyone.

• When recording, choose one of sport type listed above.

• When giving a title to recorded activities, include “Blocktober – Day X” for easy recognition.

4) How we track October activities

• Each club shows a weekly leaderboard (current + last week).

• If you join a Blocktober Club we’ll add up time and distance across participants to show the overall effort. We will do so every Sunday in October at 20:00 (SAST) and roll up weekly totals into a joint leaderboard shared on the blog/club feed.

• If you do not want to appear in standings, set your visibility to Only You.

Why not read the blogs you have missed?