For the last week of Safe Work Month in October, we asked teams to engage in a meaningful activity to support their local community, inspired by the ways we Work and Smile 'For All of Us'.
The entries we received were excellent, showcasing a broad range of ways our teams get involved in their local community and the valuable impact they have. Every initiative demonstrates great generosity and kindness in helping others.
We're thrilled to announce the following winners and their outstanding initiatives!
Grand prize - Blood donation initiative
The VIC Building Projects team donated blood at the local Red Cross Lifeblood Centre, supporting both the community and a client partnership.
This was the first time for many of the team and was something they feared; however they pushed through to support this worthy cause.
Programmed’s Lifeblood Champions Debra Clark and Angela Busuttil have also kickstarted a Programmed-wide Lifeblood donor campaign from the 25th of November to the 5th of January with everyone encouraged to consider giving blood or plasma.
Blood donations are used for patients who are experiencing cancer, surgery, and trauma, while plasma donations (the yellow part of blood) go to patients with autoimmune disorders, severe burns, and many other serious illnesses. 1 donation = 3 lives saved.
Congratulations, team! Your $500 e-gift card is on the way.
Runner up - Kangaroo Retreat volunteering & Hedland Community Garden cleanup
Training Services - Northwest Team and Year 11 trainees from Hedland Senior High School volunteered at the Kangaroo Retreat, contributing to wildlife conservation efforts.
The Kangaroo retreat is a family run facility that has been rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing injured and orphaned kangaroos since 2010. The retreat relies heavily on volunteers to manage day-to-day operations and care for the animals.
Year 12 trainees also helped clean up the Hedland Community Garden in preparation for the Great Gardens Awards, supporting environmental stewardship.
Outside of Safe Work Month, The Training Services Northwest team has also been actively involved in other community volunteering events supporting local organisations and causes and are proud winners of this year’s WA Government’s Volunteer Employer Recognition Awards.
Great work, everyone! The team will receive a $250 e-gift card for their efforts.
Runner up - Environmental clean-up
Facility Management's Caitlin Reeman and other team members took it upon themselves to undertake rubbish pickup at Frankston beach after a flash flooding event caused a huge amount of rubbish to be washed and blown onto the beach.
Awesome stuff! The team will receive the second $250 e-gift card.
More excellent community initiatives
Choosing our winners was a tough task, and we're so proud of all the teams who submitted their own meaningful initiatives. A special shoutout to the following teams:
Watsonia removal at Waikumete Cemetery Heritage Area
Massimo Sana and the Facility Management team manually removed 4 tonnes worth of the invasive plant Watsonia without using herbicides to protect other species.
Joining the SES
Krista Sambuca from Programmed Facility Management gives back to her community by volunteering with the State Emergency Services.
ACT Housing Tenants BBQ
Cassandra Zoro and the Canberra Programmed team help bring the community together by hosting a tenant’s BBQ.
Protecting the public from a safety hazard
Janaka Deegodagamage and Ian McDonald from UMS took measures to protect children and other members of the public from a large hole near a park’s footpath while they communicated with council to get the situation rectified.
School clean-up
Although out of scope, Alex McNamara and the Facility Management school caretakers’ team have made Monday morning rubbish collection to clean up the school part of their routine.
Taking an active role in the community to bring about positive change can have a powerful impact, and we encourage teams to continue making these extremely valuable contributions.
Helping in the community not only helps others, it's also been shown to strengthen the mental and emotional wellbeing of those participating, creating a sense of fulfillment and purpose.
Remember - all activities undertaken can be logged in the Wellbeing Activities section of ProSafe which can be accessed through the Wellbeing tile on the ProSafe dashboard.
Thanks again for joining in our Community Activity Competition!