EXSA NEWS

Exhibition Freighting —‘Earn-as-you-Learn’ programme

Exhibition Freighting’s heart has always been rooted in family values, equality, and community. We have been involved in community upliftment since we established the business in 2002 and last year we decided to officially give it a name the ‘Earn-as-you-Learn’ programme.

By Jacqui Nel, vice chairperson and director of Exhibition Freighting

We recognised, after the pandemic, how heavily the exhibition and conference industry was hit and how that impact rippled all the way down to the crew, resulting in unemployment and poverty.

The Earn-as-you-Learn programme gives young people hands-on, practical training in the logistics industry, including operating a pallet jack, a forklift, de-crating and re-crating cargo, learning to communicate effectively with others, working as a team and being aware of the health and safety practices, while looking after clients on a show site. This not only equips them with valuable skills but also provides them an income, boosting their confidence and dignity and providing them with career possibilities and opportunities. It’s about changing one life at a time, and creating a ripple effect that impacts their families and broader community. For us, it’s a way of ensuring that our success as a business has a deeper, long-term impact on society. We’re incredibly proud of the Earn-asyou-Learn programme because it’s more than just a training initiative — it’s a pathway for young people to build real, tangible skills that open doors for them, not only in logistics but transferable to any industry.

The programme has been hugely beneficial. From an operational standpoint, the learners that we train often become invaluable on-site support during exhibitions, bringing a fresh energy to our team, while providing high-quality service to our clients, and our clients see that by working with us, they’re also contributing to a larger cause. The more we grow, the more this programme will grow alongside us — because giving back is part of who we are as a company, and it’s a reflection of our values and our commitment to making a real difference. They rely on us, and so can you.