About Our Team
How It All Started
Those who work in the sector serving senior communities are akin to residents of a particularly important old heritage building. The “heritage” is our current service paradigm — with its laws, norms, standards, history, policies, and procedures. Within this heritage, we are caretakers of some of the most vulnerable members of our society, and we also hold the hopes and dreams of the younger people who work in this industry and long for growth and recognition.
Over time, our systems have become dated, bloated, inefficient and unsustainable. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the urgent need to adapt. If we ignore these lessons, we risk becoming irrelevant to a society that either cannot afford our services or no longer identifies with the way we operate.
As in the restoration of a valued old building, we need to erect a new scaffold around the old service structures — preserving what is noble and essential, discarding what holds us back, and rebuilding a model that delivers better service, empowers staff, and brings fulfilment to everyone involved: older persons, caregivers, service providers and families.
Project Scaffold provides a framework for this renewal — a Portal through which participants in the sector can collaborate. It promotes Relationship-based Service, recognising all stakeholders and uniting them in the process.
Organisations and individuals can participate in various ways, and the hope is that the outcomes will contribute toward improved services and related legislation.
An occupational therapist by training, Magda specialises in helping care organisations adopt and sustain Person-Directed Support practices within their cultures. Through true2you, she facilitates workshops, online sessions, and in-house training designed to inspire new ways of thinking and working in elder care. Her passion lies in helping individuals and teams make a positive, tangible difference in the lives of older persons while honouring everyone who contributes to the long-term care community in South Africa and beyond.

Website | Facebook
After a successful career transition from electrical engineering to management and consulting, Rob has spent more than a decade helping shape the South African retirement industry. Through Shire Retirement Properties, founded in 2010, he provides strategic and operational consulting to developers, operators, and care centre owners. Rob holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch and an MBA from Henley Management College, London.
He also serves on several boards in both the for-profit and non-profit care sectors, driving innovation and collaboration across the industry.

Shire Website | Facebook

With over 40 years of experience in gerontology, Syd brings deep expertise as a professional social worker, academic, researcher, policy maker, human-rights advocate, and counsellor. He serves as a committee member of the South African Human Rights Commission, addressing challenges faced by older persons. Syd’s lifelong commitment to dignity and justice for the elderly underpins the very foundation of Project Scaffold.
Syd Eckley | Founder / CEO — ConsultAge


