Join our activities in October — Details & roster

Blocktober activities take place throughout October. You can join one of the organised walks, runs, rides or swims, or take part in your own local activity.

See the current Blocktober 2026 activities and programme for dates, times and activity details.

Using a phone? 

• You may be asked to open or install the free Google Sheets app, and possibly to sign in, before you can add your name.
• Need help? Help accessing the roster on your phone.
• Full roster FAQ

Open the 2026 Activity Roster and add your name to the activity you plan to join.

Read other blogs in the series

COMBINED BAROMETER: Blocktober Saartjie Baartman (SBC) Fundraiser 2023–25

This is the historical 2024–25 fundraising record. Click here for the 2026–28 fundraising campaign, or go directly to the latest BackaBuddy campaign.

This barometer combines donations made via Back-a-Buddy and those paid directly to SBC in 2023–2025 as part of this campaign. Back-a-Buddy’s built-in barometer shows this too, but this barometer shows the contributions made in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025.

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

There are 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

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Donate - Saartjie Baartman Entrepreneurs Fundraiser

Donate through our BackaBuddy campaign.

Blocktober donations support the Saartjie Baartman Centre’s Entrepreneurial Hub and its work to expand employment and enterprise opportunities for survivors of gender-based violence.

In 2023–2025, a total of R548 295 was raised through Blocktober-related fundraising. These funds helped support the expansion of the Hub, including the Entrepreneurship Manager who started in August 2026. See this blog for updates on how the funds are being used.

The 2026–28 fundraising target is R500 000 for the next phase of survivors’ economic empowerment.

BackaBuddy includes an optional 12% tip to support the platform. You can you can slide it to R0 or another amount — if you would prefer to keep your total cost down or put more of your contribution towards this campaign.

USD donations include a mandatory 5% currency-conversion fee. If you can, rather donate in ZA Rand.

Please donate via Back-a-Buddy in preference, since that makes it easier to track donations for this campaign. However, if you prefer to donate directly to SBC, take these steps.

South African donors can get a donations tax certificate, reducing their tax liability. To get one, email finance@womenscentre.co.za, copying blocktober2025@gmail.com, so that we can assist with any follow-up, if necessary. 

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

Historical fundraising record: For the earlier campaign record, see the 2024–25 combined fundraising barometer and the 2024–25 BackaBuddy campaign.

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Choose your activity — Walk, Run, Ride or Swim 2025

This was our October 2025 activity notice:

• 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 Whatspp on your phone, download and install it. Then click "Join Chat".
• Feel free to post limited 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.

 

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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 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?

Direct donations

Please donate via Back-a-Buddy in preference, since that makes it easier to track donations for this campaign.

However, if you prefer to donate directly to SBC, take these three steps:three steps:

• 1. Banking details, only for direct donations: 

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.