The easiest way to explain the allure of shopping to any man is comparing it to football or any contact sport. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death for the last size seven pumps and the ecstasy of the final purchase – score! But to truly understand the buying power of women, famous women, you have to look at how many digits they have to play with. Last year despite the world climbing out of a recession, Forbes.com had no problem compiling its annual Celebrity 100. This list of top earners featured six women in the top 10. The Queen of Media, Oprah, banked an impressive $315 million, and The Queen of Pop, Madonna (ranked 10th), cashed in $58 million. With Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Sandra Bullock cashing in $269 million collectively. However, with the constant freebies they receive, what exactly do the starlets have to pay for and how much are they spending?

To date (and to public knowledge), Oprah’s biggest spend has been on property and the $40 million she invested establishing the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley on Klip, south of Johannesburg. The school, set over 22 acres, opened in January 2007 with an enrolment of 150 pupils and has state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science laboratories, a library, theatre and even a beauty salon.

Another celebrity who values property is Tiger Woods. According to DailyMail.co.uk, Woods is getting ready to move into his private mansion on Jupiter Island in Florida. The mansion is rumoured to be valued at about $60 million and comes with running track, tennis court, gym, diving pool with lap lane and four-hole golf course. Prior to that Tiger Woods called his $65 million estate in the Hamptons his home. The downgrade could have been due to the reported $750 million his ex-wife received in the divorce settlement.

For Jay-Z’s 41st birthday, wife Beyonce bought the rap mogul a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, priced at $2 million. The car is the fastest vehicle on the road — able to go from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. Nevertheless, when it comes to really spending money on transportation, men still seem to be the biggest spenders. The Maybach Exelero is a high-performance sports car designed and built by German luxury car manufacturer Maybach. In 2005, the supercar was originally purchased by diamond mogul, André A. Jackson for $7.8 million. This year Jackson sold the vehicle to rapper Bryan Williams (aka Birdman) for $8 million. Tom Cruise flies higher than the rest of us – literally. His Gulfstream IV, priced at around $40 million, arcs through the ether at 45 000 feet, roughly 10 000 feet above most commercial aircrafts. Cruise enjoys several other high-altitude perks. His cabin air is completely refreshed every two minutes, as opposed to never. And he’s pressurised at 6 000 feet, as opposed to 8 000, so he is less fatigued when he arrives for a premiere

When it comes to handbags no other celebrity could clutch the title from Victoria Beckham. Over the space of a couple months she has been spotted with a white Jimmy Choo Marin bag (£650), a patent black Fendi bag (£775), fuchsia Hermès clutch, (£3 000), tan Hermès Birkin (£4 000), pink ostrich Fendi bag (£10 000), green Fendi bag (£1 200) and a tan and red Hermès bag (£4 000). Despite having her own handbag collection, she is reported to own over 100 versions of the Hermès Birkin bag (at a total of £400 000).

Nobody has kicked the spending into high gear more so than Imelda Marcos when it comes to shoes. As the wife of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the 10th President of the Philippines, Imelda housed an estimated 3 000 pairs of shoes behind the palace doors. The former first lady’s extravagant lifestyle reportedly included $5 million shopping tours in New York, Rome and Copenhagen and sending a plane to pick up Australian white sand for a new beach resort. She purchased a number of properties in Manhattan in the 1980s, including the $51-million Crown Building and the $60-million Herald Centre (she declined to purchase the Empire State Building for $750 million as she considered it “too ostentatious”). Her New York real estate was later seized and sold, along with much of her jewels and the majority of her 175-piece art collection, which included works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Canaletto. As of 2010 the Marcos family have an estimated net worth of over $220 billion.

When it comes to family spending one of the biggest Hollywood families is no doubt the Pitt-Jolie clan. It isn’t easy raising six children, especially when it involves hiring an army of tutors, nannies, chefs and private transportation. According to Bonnie Fuller of HollyBaby.com: “They spend about $10 million a year on the kids.” Jolie who landed at 18 on the 2010 Forbes Celebrity 100 Power List, with a salary of $20 million is followed by Pitt also banking $20 million. Brad and Angelina spend about $5 million on private jets, not including the cost of first-class tickets, so that they can take their family with them when they travel. Then there is the approximately $1 million on private tutors. The nannies earn around $900 000 a year and clothes spend is roughly $96 000 (possibly per child). Birthday parties are also a costly affair with $7 000 to charter a private boat for Pax’s 7th birthday. And who wouldn’t be envious of parents that have also rented out a zoo for a party for the kids.

For more information visit: www.forbes.com/lists, Oprah Winfrey Academy for girls www.owla.co.za, www.jupiterisland.com, www.maybach-manufaktur.com, www.gulfstream.com, www.hermes.com, www.jimmychoo.com, www.fendi.com, www.hollybaby.com, www.waldorfnewyork.com

Historically this ski region was reputed as one of the most affordable snow holidays in the world. However its popularity has begun to drive the prices a bit, while the current European economy ensures that the surrounding bankrupt states no longer flock to the slopes in their usual drones. My time spent there on two occasions has spoilt me with excellent skiing and boarding with uncrowned slopes.

In terms of accessibility, it’s not bad when compared to other venues visited in Europe. A 10-hour flight to Madrid, then one-and-a-half hours to Barcelona, then a beautiful three-hour coach trip to the resort. This routing also affords you the opportunity to stop over in on of my favorite cities – Barcelona. Also consider access via Toulouse (France).

The two villages worth investigating in Andorra are Soldeu and Arinsal. If you were to go for more than a week, I would suggest splitting the holiday and staying in both. This way you will get to cover plenty of slopes, while appreciating each village and its unique qualities. My favorite is Arinsal for its ancient granite, slate and pine architecture, narrow streets and beautiful river flowing through the town.

Soldeu is built up with large hotels and apartment blocks and offers a distinct variety of slopes. It’s the more commercial with plenty of bars and restaurants while providing other activities for non skiers like snowmobiles and husky-driven sledges. I can certainly recommend the Sports Hotel (4*) and the Sports Hotel Hermitage (5*). My first choice is The Hermitage conveniently situated next-door to the ski lifts facing the mountains and it has a world ranked spa. The ski shops are a snowball’s throw away, while the bars and restaurants are in walking distance so no hacking up icy pavements with awkward boots and skis. Eating outside the hotel, consider Border del Rector for traditional Catalan cuisine and live music – not close by, but you can be collected and dropped off at the hotel. Also consider the oldest building in town; a renovated cattle shed called Fat Albert’s. Party time is all in walking distance at the Iceberg, small but lively. The T-Bar afforded us a few very large nights while the Roc seemed to be the after party.

Soldeu provides excellent slopes that consider the beginners and the more advanced both on skis and snowboards. The ski region is called Grandvalira, which fits into a 15km valley with 110 runs. The summit is 2 560m accessible through a network of 66 speedy lifts and new gondolas and cable cars. There is a snow park and half pipe for the boarders, while 40 percent of the slopes manufacture snow. On the slopes you will find a number of beautiful spots to rest and take a meal or sip on a warming rum and hot chocolate.

Arinsal is the quintessence of a quaint ski village. Surrounded by steep hills and pine slopes with an icy river that dissects the town, everyone seems to know each other. It is popular for the British skiers; hence a bit more courtesy is noticed on the slopes. There are plenty affordable deals on self-catering apartments from 25 Euros per person per night. Everything is in walking distance, while the ski shops and ski lifts are all central. Hotels to consider here include Hotel Diana Parc (5*) and the Hotel Princesa Parc (4*) both within 200 metres of the main ski lift and all the bars and restaurants. When you are in Arinsal, you will go to Quo Vadis the top bar in the resort and expect J&B shooters with Kevin. You will spend a lot of time here. The similar applies to the Derby Irish Pub, also run by South Africans. Looking for some traditional fare, then it’s off to the Rocky that serves excellent Catalan cuisine, or the Surf for some great Argentinean meals. The restaurants double up as bars, while the disco pumps at El Cau and the crazy Mexican cave bar Ciscos will groove on late.

The slopes here are fewer than Soldeu, but very different, with a healthy span of off-piste. Here there is less traffic on the slopes. The area of Vallnord offers 93 kilometres of marked runs serviced by 43 lifts. The gem here is a region called Arcalis that is 2 625 metres at the summit, with no accommodation, and very few people know about it. Other attractions are the igloo bars that move each year. Here you enter an igloo built for the season with various rooms and ice sculptures and good music inside and out. Again I recommend the rum and hot chocolate generally served by an attractive Argentinean. An event to look out for here is the Big Snow Festival in March 2011 with DJs and bands. A sweet combination of snow and music.

For additional information contact Andrew on travel@liveoutloud.co.za / andrew@peakincentives.co.za.

Visa has one of the most reassuringly recognisable logos in the world, reaching over 200 countries and territories. The company connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments around the globe to fast, secure and reliable digital currency.

Most women will be able to tell of the feeling that comes when on vacation, after spotting an astronomically expensive (in euros) garment in a shop window, realising you haven’t got enough cash and just as you are about to dash back to the hotel before someone else steals your new favourite thing, your eye glances across to the corner of the window display and you see that little blue and gold Visa flag that whispers “buy now, pay later!”. Out comes the ‘emergency’ credit card and genius explanations to hubby will be perfectly practiced by the time next month’s statement arrives.

Similar scenarios to these [I imagine] happen around the world every second. Visa has built one of the world’s most advanced processing networks, capable of handling 10 000 transactions per second. The brand began over 50 years ago in California with the inception of Bank of America’s first general purpose credit card, the BankAmericard – a paper card with a $300 limit. Soon the development went national and in 1973 National BankAmericard developed the first electronic authorisation system (“BASE I”), followed a year later by an electronic clearing and settlement system (“BASE I”) bringing the corporation one step closer to going global in 1974. Two years later the name was changed to Visa, a simple name that was pronounced the same in any language, with the recognisable flag logo. The establishment of traveller’s cheques and ATMs also assisted in pushing Visa forward as a global phenomenon.

In 1988 Visa sponsored its first Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea – a strategic move that would associate the brand with internationally recognised sports as a reliable financial ‘worldwide partner’ for many years to come. The recent FIFA World Cup was a good example of the force this iconic brand has become, with branding for its international ‘Go Fans’ campaign just about everywhere you looked. It would have been impossible not to know that Visa was an official sponsor. The benefits that Visa experienced from being a sponsor were certainly worthwhile. During the period leading up to the SWC and the first week of tournament matches (1-20 June), spending by international visitors in South Africa on Visa vbranded payment cards exceeded $128 million, up 54 percent from $83 million during the same period in 2009 (source: Visa).

Using its FIFA partnership for good, in May of this year, Visa announced the launch of a new FIFA World Cup ™ branded educational video game as part of their longstanding commitment to reach 20 million people worldwide with financial literacy information by 1 May, 2013. The video game, Financial Football, is an innovative way of helping children and adults learn about personal finance by challenging game players to answer fast paced, multiple-choice money management questions correctly in order to advance down the field for a chance to score a goal.

The game is available in South Africa and can also be played online at www.financialfootball.com.

Jo’burg Child Welfare, one of the oldest and largest children’s NGOs in the country, has come up with an inspired campaign to raise much needed funds for the deserving charity. They have approached 100 local role models such as artists, musicians, actors, authors, cartoonists, photographers and designers to each take an old door and turn it into a distinctive masterpiece.

From an expectedly bizarre creation by John Vlismas to the self-explanatory SHOUT door by Danny K, each door tells its own story. Respected names such as Ard Matthews, Evolver, Abigail Betz, Emmanuel Castis, Johnny and Jesse Clegg, Rasty (graffiti artist) and Nik Rabinowitz (comedian) all lent their names and their talent to the cause.

Many of the doors have already sparked interest among auction followers, art collectors and fans of the artists, which has created great hype for the auction that will take place in September.

For more information about Jo’burg Child Welfare visit www.jhbchildwelfare.org.za or to find out about the auction email Carly on communications@jhbchildwelfare.org.za

Dr Anton Rupert was one of South Africa’s most distinguished industrialists. In classic rags-to-riches fashion, he started with a £10 investment which he eventually transformed into a multi-million pound international financial conglomerate that saw him listed in Forbes magazine among the 500 richest men in the world.

Anton Edward Rupert was born in the Karoo town of Graff-Reinet in 1916. He helped to pay his way through the University of Pretoria by starting a dry cleaning business, which soon went bankrupt. It was to be his worst and most constructive business failure. After completing his Masters degree in Chemistry he meddled with hand-rolling cigarettes in a garage at his home. He developed a cigarette-making company named Voorbrand, soon to be renamed Rembrandt Ltd, whose overseas tobacco interests were eventually consolidated in Rothmans.

Rupert soon acquired interests in an array of South African companies ranging from gold mining to banking and medical supplies, demonstrating his business savvy and ability to diversify. In his early years with Richemont, with South Africa still under apartheid and becoming increasingly isolated, Rupert opted to move his major interests, including Rothmans, offshore by establishing the Luxembourg-listed Compagnie Financière Richemont SA company. Perhaps with some foresight into the future he somewhat predicted a deviation from tobacco products and, through Richemont, expanded into luxury goods with Cartier, Montblanc and Dunhill.

Currently the business empire encompasses hundreds of companies located in 35 countries on six continents, with an employment standing of 19 570. Combined they mustered a net profit in the region of $599 million for the 2010 fiscal year (according to their own press release). Nevertheless the company was not left out of the economic downturn, as it managed an impressive $1.76 billion the year before.

It was in 1993 that the Richemont tobacco and luxury goods operation separated into Rothmans International NV/PLC and Vendome Luxury Group SA/PLC respectively. The business continued to soar and in 1996 the merger of Richemont’s tobacco interests with those in South Africa, held by Rembrandt Group Limited, saw Richemont owning 67 percent of the tobacco group. Vendome Luxury Group also managed to acquire watch maker Vacheron Constantin in the same year. In 1998 Richemont then bought out Vendome (owning 100 percent of the luxury goods interest).

The achievements within the luxury sector continued through the next decade, as Richemont acquired a controlling 60 percent in Van Cleef & Arpels in 1999 (before a further 20 percent in 2001), together with Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC and A. Lange & Söhne. The interest in British American Tobacco (BAT) continued in 2007 with Richemont and Remgro reaching an agreement to combine their equity interest. In the same year Richemont and Polo Ralph Lauren announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture. They also acquired an interest in Azzedine Alaia (the Parisian fashion house).

The next notable restructure came in 2008 in which Richemont separated the luxury goods business from its other interests, forming Reinet Investments S.C.A as a separately traded vehicle for holding the non-luxury goods businesses formerly held by Richemont.

Johann Rupert, the son of founder Anton Rupert (who handed over the reins in 1990), took over from Norbert Platt this year as CEO. This position shift came at the same time as the much publicised offer by Richemont to shareholders in NET-A-PORTER Limited to acquire all of the shares. The premier online luxury fashion retailer, established in 2000, features collections from over 300 of the world’s leading designers and offers unrivalled customer service. It ships to over 170 countries worldwide and recently celebrated its millionth order. The offer values the equity of NET-A-PORTER at £350 million. Richemont currently holds some 33 percent of the issued share capital of NET-A-PORTER Limited.

With partnerships as the cornerstone of its business philosophy, the iconic Richemont brand is sure to weather the economic storm and keep its pulse on the billions it aims to make in the future.

For more information on Richemont visit, www.richemont.com. Credit: Source: www.richemont.co.za

Curtis – Setchell has had the privilege of interviewing the top names in sport in the build up to previous World Cups, being the first woman in South Africa to have her own rugby and cricket “Player’s Kingdom” show and the first to introduce a free DVD giveaway sport series in a national newspaper. Inspired by this year’s sporting deluge, she has tracked down legends beyond the field, in their own countries, pursuing their favourite leisure activity. The following are among those featured in her forthcoming DVD series.

GIANLUCA VIALLI: ITALIAN STRIKER

– PLAYED FOR JUVENTUS AND CHELSEA, MANAGED CHELSEA AND PLAYED IN 2 WORLD CUPS.

The name “Luca Vialli” may not resonate quite as loudly as the vuvuzela in South Africa, yet it rings Big Ben bells in England where the Chelsea cognoscenti vie to shake his hand and in Italy, where the Milanese revere every square inch of his shaven head and shiny Armani suit. Not only is Vialli a trendsetter, he is the man who broke the soccer mould for “Calcio” – the colloquial term for Italian football. Whereas most Italian soccer players hail from the back streets of the industrial north, Vialli emerged from a 15th Century, 50 room chateau in Lombardy. He self deprecatingly dismisses this distinction: “I was just a regular middle class kid, who mucked in with everyone else and played football from the minute I could walk.”

Yet there is nothing ordinary about this Italian blue blood. In a country, where the first rule of football is “do not concede a goal”, the most capped player is a goalkeeper, Zoff and the Italians traditionally play more defensive soccer on the world stage. Vialli was the first real Italian striker to burst from obscurity in the early 1980s and to powerfully attack the goal from any position on the field, off both feet, hitting masterful overhead kicks and spectacular headers.

Shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Gianfranco Zola and Del Piero, he won every domestic trophy for Sampdoria and Juventus, played in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, then in 1996 led the first player’s strike, before heading to England to garner more gold for Chelsea.

I meet Luca early on an overcast May morning at the West London Aero Club in Berkshire, where he is learning to fly. Both the club and Calcio, boast a strong military history.

I mention to Luca, that the only other sports star I have interviewed in a plane pursuing his pilot’s licence was South African rugby star Joel Stransky, and that perhaps team players resort to solo quests to escape the maddening crowds? He laughs: “ No Deborah, I thrive on pressure and believe me learning to fly is maybe more pressure than managing a top flight Premier League team, but actually it is more for practical reasons. I travel extensively” (he commutes every week between Milan and London commentating for Sky Sports) “and on holiday in Namibia, cramped into a friend’s light aircraft, I decided I wanted to be able to fly independently with my wife, Catherine and our two daughters.” Perhaps illustrated by the fact that he caught chicken pox from his youngest daughter skiing in St Moritz this year and had to charter a plane to fly the two of them home under quarantine.

Again it was Vialli who bravely led the Italian charge of talent across the Channel first to play for Chelsea and then to manage the team. Fabio Capello famously commented it was tantamount to putting a learner driver in a Formula One car. If his learner antics in the cockpit are anything to go by, Vialli was a soaring success and the Androttis and Capellos followed in their droves.

JONNY WILKINSON: ENGLISH FLY HALF

– CLUBS TOULON AND NEWCASTLE – PLAYED IN TWO WORLD CUPS

Telling a redhead “You cannot!” – is tantamount to dangling a piece of meat in front of a Piranha. When every British rugby authority told me it would be impossible to interview Johnny Wilkinson, I drove the length and breadth of Britain, through the night and through ferocious rainstorms to hunt down rugby’s most elusive hero.

I found him at an early morning practice session with ball in hand. Newcastle may lurk in the tough grey industrial north, proverbial soccer country, however its greatest exports have been World Cup rugby stars Rob Andrews and Jonny Wilkinson.

And Jonny, like Rob, is the consummate professional. As much as he hates talking to the press: “I resent any distraction which takes me away from the field, such is my desire to kick a ball around, I’ll often pull complete strangers off the bleachers just to throw a ball to me if my brother or mates are unavailable” – once his green eyes glare into the lens, his desire “to be perfect at whatever I am doing” takes over.

Few would know, he also loves playing the guitar and my request for Queen’s “We Are The Champions” raises a rare smile. Although he points out his guitar playing was a spin off from being injured and needing something to keep his mind off the urge to prematurely race back onto the field. He appreciates my comparison between himself and Welsh great, Gareth Edwards, the only other player obsessed with kicking a ball around from dawn till dusk for the sheer unadulterated joy of it.

The flip side of this fanatical coin is that you do not allow mother nature or serious injuries slow you down, on the contrary Wilkinson tells me: “As the professional game becomes more brutal and the injuries more numerous, modern science must keep up and find better and faster ways to fix these injuries.”

“What about simply making the game safer?” I ask on behalf of hundreds of anxious mothers, whose beloved sons rush to school every day to emulate Jonny Wilkinson’s fearless tackling and distinctive kicking stance. Their only hope is that Jonny agrees with my long term observation that Rugby Union is marching steadily in the direction of American Football, with more separation of defence and attack and, the introduction of impact players, etc, which suggests junior Jonnies may not have to linger on the field for as long as 80 minutes…

ABE SEGAL

– FORMER NO 1 DAVIS CUP PLAYER AND TWICE FRENCH OPEN DOUBLES FINALIST.

It is a blistering day in the Californian desert and among the cactus and the cowboy hats, one expects Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to gallop through the gates of the Indian Wells Masters, but instead contemporary characters reign supreme. Former South African hippy and Davis Cup player is welcoming his legendary doubles mentor, former South African No1, Abe Segal, onto the outdoor arena stage to appear live on the Bud Collins show.

Sitting in the front row, among 50 000 straw sucking Americans, are former champs Rod Laver, Roy Emmerson, Tommy Tucker (Clint Eastwood’s tennis coach) and Charlie Pasarel, co-owner of Indian Wells and famous for his marathon Wimbledon match against Pancho Gonzales. This is as heavyweight a tennis line up, as one can get and they are all hanging on Segal’s every hilarious word, given that Segal has a reputation for mixing up his words.

Moore reminds the audience that Segal, in addition to making it to two French Open doubles finals, beat World No1 Monola Santana in straight sets singles at Wimbledon and then shocked the world beating not only Arthur Ashe, but Alex Olmeda, who had just won Wimbledon and the Davis Cup for America, ruining Olmeda’s contract to turn pro with the famous Jack Kramer circus. Segal laconically takes the microphone from Moore.

“Well I can see your hair has calmed down a bit now that you’ve got some money in your back pocket! It was looking a lot more nervous the day I took you to tea with the Chicago mobsters!” ( Segal is referring firstly to Moore and Pasarel’s recent deal selling the hugely successful Indian Wells Tournament to an American entrepreneur for about 100 million dollars and secondly to how he showed his rookie afro haired doubles partner the ropes on Moore’s first tour to America.)

Prominent women from the business and public sector were expected to attend a day of joy, jewels and the opportunity to bid on specially commissioned photographic portraits of women and children as well as one of a kind jewellery. These were some of the highlights of an event hosted by the Eskom Foundation in association with Live Out Loud magazine at the exclusive Summer Place in Hyde Park, Johannesburg on Wednesday, 11 August.

In celebration of Women’s Day, all proceeds from the sale of tickets to the elegant tea and the Joy & Jewels charity auction went to iKhaya Lethemba, The Teddy Bear Clinic and Family Justice Support Services.

Places of safety was chosen as the theme and beneficiaries for the 2010 Joy & Jewels by The Eskom Foundation, who is responsible for the execution of Eskom’s corporate social investment (CSI) programmes.

Says Haylene Liberty, CEO of the Eskom Development Foundation: “Although the FIFA World Cup has brought many benefits to our shores, there has also been a greater risk of human trafficking in South Africa and the Foundation has chosen to counter this by focusing on the prevention of abuse against women and children.”

In 2002, Eskom donated the building to iKhaya Lethemba and one of the mothers has inscribed the following words on a mural, decorated by the residents: “Once upon a time there was an ugly duckling. All the ducks in the river thought he was the ugliest duck. He cried all the time and wished he was beautiful. Winter came and he fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up he saw that he had become a beautiful swan.”

According to Ms Mokonyane, Premier of the Gauteng Province and patron of iKhaya Lethemba, this sums up what iKhaya Lethemba, The Teddy Bear Clinic and Family Justice Support Services are all about.

“Taking these broken women and children, with crushed self confidence and turning them into self sufficient human beings, active in the economy.” The charity auction conducted by Saville Row Auctions, included twelve portraits of women and children by social documentary photographer Hannelie Coetzee and eight specially designed pieces of jewellery by students from the Tshwane University of Technology.

In addition to financial assistance, as part of its i-Volunteer employee programme, the Eskom Foundation will be encouraging staff around the country to give of their time to similar NGOs that create places of safety for women and children.

Says Ms Liberty: “This is not just about training for victim support, but Eskom i-Volunteers can address whatever needs these centres have, whether it is reading to children or teaching women life skills or crafts. “These are portable skills which the recipients will be able to turn into a means to an income, something many of these women are unable to do, since they are usually financially dependent on their husbands or partners.”

Last year’s Joy & Jewels beneficiary was the Breast Health Foundation, a section 21 company, which was established in April 2002 to educate the public on breast health and breast cancer and increase awareness and empowerment of women.

On a cool autumn night FNB Premier Banking broke the mould once again! FNB Premier Banking spoilt another 150 of their exclusive Premier Banking clients which were invited to take part in an auction event that was the first of its kind in South Africa. Making their way up to a fashionable restaurant on the ninth floor in Sandton, guests were greeted by stunning ladies handing over Champagne, auction paddles and a stack of ten million FNB Premier Banking Bucks.

They were then addressed by two very energetic auctioneers singing and joking as to how an American style auction works.

With paddles at the ready the prizes were listed – a Club Med holiday in Mauritius, a R22 000 suit from Strellson, a Lamborghini for a day, Penhaligon’s perfume as well as World Cup tickets with the opportunity to meet the Portugal team were just some of the amazing prizes up for auction.

Christiaan Vorster, like most South Africans, is an avid sports fan who likes to travel and experience this beautiful country. He’s also an amateur photographer and, on one of his travels, conceived the idea behind documenting the many soccer fields used in the soccer-mad communities.

The result is The Real Soccer Fields of South Africa, a look at how rural and urban communities play the beautiful game. Chartered Accountant Vorster and Ingrid Biesheuvel of ReadHill Publishing have put together a book that stretches to the core of the sporting passion of South Africa’s people – soccer.

As Vorster notes,” For the past four years I have taken photos in different locations across South Africa of the most interesting fields imaginable, where no two fields look or feel the same. As the project grew, I began collaborating with other sources to add to my own library of photos. I then teamed up with ReadHill Publishing, who were as excited by the idea as I was. Together, we have formed relationships with other people with a passion for soccer: the Dreamfields Project, Kick Off magazine, Grant Veitch and The Richard Allen Foundation, and Adam Cooper and the talented kids from the Extra-Mural Education Project.

“I would also like to specially mention Henk Venter from The Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, all the photographers featured in the book, and the writers for their positive contributions throughout the process. The book will contribute to uplifting soccer-mad communities by donating 10 percent of net sales to The Dreamfields Project, a non-profit organisation. I now invite you to page through this book and imagine the atmosphere of South Africa’s local soccer fields: the energy of the communities playing on the fields, the dust, the goals, the dreams …”

The Real Soccer Fields of South Africa is available at leading bookstores for a recommended price of R214.

On 15 April 2010, selected FNB Premier Banking clients where hosted by LIVEOUTLOUD, in conjunction with DDB SA, at the first of the Premier First events. The event, a high status premier stadium experience, brought Premier Banking from FNB and its product offering to life. Tapping into the mindset, goals and aspirations of this niche target audience FNB offered an experience that money can’t buy.

Premier clients and their guests were offered the opportunity to be the first members of the public to experience the stadium like no other; stepping onto the Soccer City pitch, touring the locker rooms, and taking a shot at goal together with a wine and dine in the Presidential Suite with some of SA’s most well known celebrities and highflyers, an experience fit for royalty!

On 22 April 2010, a high speed Police Escort to Durban Stadium saw the second of FNB Premier Banking First event with LIVEOUTLOUD. Durban’s had to add an extra element like the cable car experience. Afterwards guests were able to enjoy the spoils of the presidential suite a definite first before the Soccer World Cup kicks off.

Then finally on 29 April 2010 the last experience took place in Cape Town. Valued guests were able to experience a bird’s eye view from helicopters before touring the stadium and meeting Roger De Sa at Grand Cafe & Beach. LIVEOUTLOUD was proud to have worked with Premier Banking from FNB and DDB South Africa on executing the events in true LIVEOUTLOUD style, because in the end it’s for those who can…