In something of a coup for local neighbourhood naming campaign, NameYourHood, the organisation has received the full backing and endorsement of Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille.

The Premier joins the likes of Guy Lundy (Accelerate Cape Town), Ravi Naidoo (Design Indaba), Mokena Makeka (MDL Founder), Nils Flaatten (Wesgro), Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana (Cape Town Partnership) and Mariete Du Toit-Helmbold (Cape Town Tourism), who have all put their support behind the intrepid startup.

NameYourHood CEO, Bruce Good, is delighted with the Premier’s show of support: “We couldn’t have hoped for more, to be honest. While we always knew that playmakers within Cape Town’s private sector would understand the need for, and have the foresight to support our initiative, it is a great honour that the Premier has stopped to take note and put the full weight of her office behind our exciting  project.”

NameYourHood is currently naming the “Hood #7” neighbourhood, which falls within the greater Woodstock suburb.

“Local retailers and the community in general have expressed great excitement at the chance of having their own voice, rather than being bundled into the fairly vast Woodstock area. There are a number of nodes and corners of every existing suburb in Cape Town and South Africa, and we aim to give them a voice and allow them to celebrate their uniqueness, through a democratic naming process,” added Good.

The Premier, Helen Zille will be speaking at the launch of NameYourHood’s next big project, which aims to rename the areas within Gugulethu. This suburb is currently divided into numbered “NY” sections. Like “NY1” and “NY2.” Originally named during SA’s apartheid days, this acronym comes from the word “Native Yard.”

Check out nameyourhood.co.za and vote for the names that have made the final shortlist for this part of Woodstock (area includes the likes of The Armoury and Ogilvy).

www.nameyourhood.co.za