Through this project, local Early Childhood Development (ECD) non-profit, the Knysna Education Trust (KET), will expand ECD services to include all children in the larger Knysna area. Currently at least 3,500 children are excluded from this opportunity. 1) The Knysna Education Trust will do this by implementing a franchised, structured playgroup model called SmartStart, which allows local unemployed women (day-mothers) to become SmartStart franchisees (SmartStarters). This allows them to develop Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioner skills, and it gives them the opportunity to run their own micro- enterprise to earn a small income by providing ECD services to children that currently don’t access a preschool. In the five years since it launched, SmartStart’s social franchise model has enabled it to reach over 75,000 children through 3,897 franchisees. 2) A second strategy will boost the sustainability of ECD facilities currently supported by KET by providing funding towards the requirements that will enable 20 facilities that are nearly ready for government registration, to register and qualify for the government ECD subsidy. This will help ensure the long-term sustainability for these facilities and allow them to continue serving the children already present. Supporting the above: a) A proportion of the grant will fund the customization and installation of a relational and georeferenced database 1 for KET to support strategic management and reporting of their data. At the moment they are using Excel spreadsheets; a database will improve their strategic management capacity, especially as they embark on the expansion project. b) A final portion will fund a parent campaign that will create awareness among parents in Knysna about the importance of ECD as the foundation for further learning. Presentation