Steps Clubfoot support won Gold at the Impumelelo Social Innovations Awards on 4 November 2017, in a ceremony hosted at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town.
The Impumelelo Social Innovations Award Centre is a leading awards programme in South Africa, rewarding innovators who find creative solutions to public problems. Impumelelo also regularly submits the work of its award winners to the UN Public Service Awards and the Dubai International Awards for Best Practice, and since 1999, 21 projects have won international prestigious awards.
Steps is the only organisation working for the plight of children born with clubfoot in South Africa, and we were recognised for our innovative and impactful four pillar programme of clubfoot treatment support;
- Training health professionals in the best practice Ponseti method, which Steps’ founder Karen Moss introduced to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Seychelles.
- Supporting clubfoot clinics to provide excellent and sustainable treatment to patients and their families.
- Sourcing a sustainable supply of clubfoot braces to prevent recurrence of the deformity.
- Advocacy to remove stigma and educate the community that clubfoot can be successfully treated.
Karen Moss founded Steps in 2005 to revolutionise the treatment of children born with clubfoot. Clubfoot is a common birth defect affecting over 2,000 born in South Africa every year. If not treated early, clubfoot causes permanent disability. Since its inception, Steps has trained over 500 health professionals, supports 26 clubfoot clinics for patients without medical aid, developed a parent education programme used internationally, and more than 10,000 children born with clubfoot have had access to this life-changing treatment for clubfoot. Steps was recognised for our amazing contribution to South Africa, with a sustainable model that can be successfully replicated.
The Impumelelo Social Innovations Awards are held annually to acknowledge the hard work of individuals and organisations that make it their mission to improve the lives of South Africans. It is one of the few mechanisms that uncovers what is good and what works in South Africa.
Steps is honoured to be recognised with the other 2017 winners, and will continue on our mission to improve the lives of children born with clubfoot.
