Nearly 400 Tipperary volunteers play pivotal role in Irish charity reaching new milestone

The Irish charity Mellon Educate has just marked a major milestone with the announcement that it has now housed 250,000 people through its South African programme since the charity was established 23 years ago.

Mellon Educate, formally known as The Niall Mellon Township Trust, was founded by Irish entrepreneur and philanthropist Niall Mellon in 2002 after he visited the township of Imizamo Yethu in Cape Town and was deeply moved by the appalling living conditions of thousands of families there.

Niall had been in business across property, hospitality and construction industries and decided to bring his entrepreneurial experience and contacts together to help drive change in South Africa, replacing shacks with two-bedroom homes in Cape Town.

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In 2013, the Niall Mellon Township Trust was renamed Mellon Educate to reflect its growing focus on education.

Since then, the charity has helped over 85,000 young South Africans in gaining access to better education.

Of the 10,000 people involved in the Building Blitz at Mellon Educate, 369 are from Tipperary.

Niall Mellon, Founder and CEO of Mellon Educate said he never imagined that the small journey he started would have been supported by so many people:

“I am deeply proud to publicly mark the charity’s achievement of housing 250,000 homeless people, and to especially recognise the enormous contribution of our incredible volunteers in making this possible,” Niall said.

“I started our mission to build homes for people living in shacks 23 years ago after being on a holiday to Capetown and seeing first hand the many shacks on the side of a modern motorway. We all have moments in life where something impacts us so much we want to do something about it and that’s what happened to me. I took a deep breath and set about changing the lives of a handful of people living in shacks. I never imagined we would get so far with our work.”

“No human being should live in those conditions and I am pleased we have been able to improve the living conditions for so many people,” said Niall.

Mellon Educate continues to run its annual Building Blitz each November, with around 400 volunteers from Ireland and across the globe due to travel to South Africa to help build new classrooms in township schools this year.

The charity was supported by activist and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, who called the work of the volunteers “inspirational”.

“On the last occasion I met President Mandela, he reached across the table, held my hand, and gave me his final piece of advice – that anything we want to achieve in life can be achieved through the power of collective effort of people,” Niall said.

“As we celebrate having housed 250,000 people, I pay tribute to the collective spirit of so many Irish people, who under the Mellon Educate flag became the largest group of overseas volunteers from one country to support Nelson Mandela’s vision for a better South Africa,” Niall added.

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“It’s a day for Ireland to be very proud that so many people from our island came to South Africa to help change the lives of so many impoverished people living in shacks. The South African government has also been tremendous and so easy to work with over the past 23 years and this is their achievement also.

“I want to thank every volunteer, and all their families, friends and colleagues who supported them, for their generosity and solidarity. It's been a remarkable Irish achievement and every person who donated funds shares this special moment.”

Eimear Murphy, Volunteer Director who has worked with Mellon Educate for 23 years, said that it was the support of more than 27,000 volunteers from around the world that has helped make major changes to the lives of people in affected townships in South Africa.

“Volunteers answered the call and they continue to do so each year, to help improve the living and educational conditions of impoverished communities.

“We are deeply proud of every volunteer who has come to help us over the past 23 years. On this special occasion, we want to especially acknowledge the 10,000 Irish volunteers who have travelled from Ireland to join us in changing lives in South Africa. It’s also interesting to note that over 70% of our volunteers this year come from outside Dublin, demonstrating the strong regional support for the charity’s work,” Eimear said.

Up to 100 young volunteers will travel to South Africa in March 2026 as part of Mellon Educate’s TY Blitz, a recently launched initiative that offers students from Ireland a unique opportunity to travel to townships where the charity is operating.

“Students get to connect with primary and high school students living in some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities - to help transform their educational journey,” said Eimear, who explained that students help with everything from painting classrooms and building walls, to reading with children and assisting with early learning.

“This next generation of volunteers will continue the work of Mellon Educate and we are just thrilled to see continued support and interest from our valued volunteer community,” she said.

While the call out for volunteers is now closed for 2025, the charity is accepting expressions of interest to participate in the 2026 Building Blitz. Anyone interested can visit melloneducate.com which also gives information about other ways to support the Irish charity that has been transforming the lives of thousands of children and families in South African townships since 2002.

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