Dear Safreans,

The end of the year is almost here. Even though I feel like I have just started in my role, there is another part of me that feels like I have covered quite a lot of ground. I have spent some time talking to and meeting with several of my Safrea colleagues.

It’s been good to catch up in-person and to hear your thoughts and ideas. I can feel my motto manifesting in Safrea – ‘collaboration is the new creativity’ – as we all get to know each other and work towards exciting new developments.

However, the end of the year is not always exciting for every freelancer. Many of us find our work coming to an end or our income drying up while people take breaks, go on leave, or wait until the new year to pay us, if they pay at all. With this in mind, we are starting a Safrea fund for members who may struggle to get through December. You will hear more from us about a fundraising portal to be established.

Let’s get through this year together and we can look forward to 2023 with even more collaboration in mind. We are planning a Safrea Camp Summit in May 2023 – a first time event for all of us. This will be an in-person event for all our members. We recognise the value that comes from meeting one another, networking, and team building. We want to use this as an opportunity for all Safreans to be a part of making sure we serve our members well.

As I close off this final newsletter for 2022, I want to wish you all a peaceful festive period. I thank you for welcoming me on board and embracing my ideas. It means a lot to me and I am really looking forward to what we can achieve next year.

Yours in freelancing,

Whitemore Masudi Ngwira, Chairman