Having started his career as an engineer for Unilever and a manufacturing director for automotive parts, Laurence Grigorov is now executive director at Laurence Martin Developments. Laurence Grigorov is an active contributor to several charitable organizations, including the Johannesburg Children’s Home (JCH).

1. Laurence Grigorov
The Johannesburg Children’s
Home - Caring for More Than 100
Years

2. Introduction
 Having started his career as an engineer for Unilever
and a manufacturing director for automotive parts,
Laurence Grigorov is now executive director at
Laurence Martin Developments. Laurence Grigorov is
an active contributor to several charitable
organizations, including the Johannesburg Children’s
Home (JCH).
The JCH dates back to 1892, making it the oldest
institutions of charity in the city. The original home
was maintained by street collections. To meet the
needs of the children it served the JCH moved from
the original single house to a larger series of buildings
donated by the government. Even during the South
African War, when the children were sent with the
home’s matron to Natal, other Johannesburg refugees
helped support the children with food and clothing.

3. Johannesburg Children’s Home
 The JCH acquired its present location in 1902, when it
sold its property back to the government and collected
donations to purchase property in the community of
Observatory.
The JCH is equipped to provide care for up to 64
children in need, with cottage homes for the children
sorted by age and gender. The age grouping helps to
ensure the children are given appropriate
developmental programs that they can participate in
alongside peers, in addition to access to public
schooling. Each child is also offered individual
therapeutic services and counseling to address the
challenges they encountered prior to arriving at the
JCH, and an on-site registered nurse oversees their
specific nutritional and medical needs. All are a part of
the JCH’s mission to provide a complete, loving, and
uplifting environment for its children in need.