Caring for Our Community
T
Breakfast at Brookman – Frank Irakoze, 6 years,
Jasinta Payne, 9 years, Mugisha Kosane, 9 years and
Cheche ‘JJ’ Boonsong, 8 years, join Antony Heane
and Glen Bolton from Programmed for breakfast.
he communities where we operate – and our
employees live – are an important part of our
business.
Our business is built on the strength of our people. We
encourage them to identify community projects that are
important to them and take an active role in delivering our
sponsorships.
Our community commitment is focused on:
•
Investing in sporting clubs, fundraising events and
charitable foundations; and
•
elping to improve the wellbeing of individuals in the
H
communities where we work.
Our nine-year partnership with the Frankston Art Centre’s “Hip
Cat Circus” – a program designed to build confidence and selfesteem in its young participants – expanded to give even more
children access to the arts.
We supported two sisters from the Sisters of St Joseph as
they travelled Australia to raise funds for the Mary MacKillop
Foundation, and our staff supported charities that they are
passionate about including A Start in Life, Oxfam, RSPCA,
Movember and the Cancer Foundation,
Our employees combine a broad range of trades, and during
the past year we have built equipment for schools in low-socio
economic areas and supported youth engagement programs
and school holiday activities.
Gavin Hanley – from Programmed’s Water Corporation Alliance
in Western Australia – helped his mate raise $250,000 for a
young friend who broke a bone in his neck and crushed his
spinal cord, paralysing him from the neck down. At the time of
the accident, the young friend’s partner was expecting their first
child and had just had a loan approved for their first home. The
funds raised were used to build short-term accommodation and
buy a block where eventually they will build a house.
We also provided more young people more opportunities to
complete work experience with us. Tailored programs gave
young people more real and robust work experience than
the norm, including full induction, interview techniques and a
briefing by one of the Programmed leadership team.
Programmed worked with its network of contractors to overhaul
Brookman Primary School’s Breakfast Club. The Langford,
Western Australia school serves breakfast three times per
week to almost 100 students; the Breakfast Club volunteers
were working out of facilities that were in desperate need of an
Investing in community
17
Caring for Our Community continued
upgrade, and low workbenches meant getting breakfast ready
was a back-breaking task. The result was a new microwave,
new stove and exhaust fan, plus a new pantry and purposebuilt workbenches in the kitchen. The Kewdale-based team
were so inspired by the project they’re now volunteering their
time to help serve breakfast each week.
In South Australia, Programmed’s horticultural expert Martin
Crab regularly hosts “Garden Talks” for green-thumbed senior
citizens. As a provider of grounds maintenance services to
many retirement villages, Martin takes clippings from the
village gardens to discuss with the residents and shares
his extensive knowledge of gardening’s historical and Latin
references. It’s also an opportunity for residents to meet and
mingle with the staff looking after the grounds of their home.
We support grassroots football and other sporting clubs
because we’re passionate about teamwork, shared goals
and the sense of well-being that sport helps to build. Our
community contributions during the year included providing
support staff for the Rottnest Island Marathon and Fun Run
and the UWCT Festival of Cycling. Through our sponsorship of
Fremantle Football Club we also facilitated community visits
throughout the year.
y Carpenters help kids to make
art with heart
Carpenters from Programmed Facility Management’s
Frankston team volunteered their time during school
holidays to assist primary school children to make
their own toys.
Dean Lyons (below left) and Brian Robinson taught
children basic woodwork skills and helped them
to build toy cars, planes and helicopters at the
Frankston Arts Centre as part of the Hot Arts for
Cool Kids school holiday program.
The participants all learnt new skills and built
something of which they could be really proud.
Each holiday break, more than 200 primary school
children took part in the program, which uses a
range of arts and craft and recycled materials to
engage families.
Programmed has managed the facilities for the City of
Frankston for almost 20 years, and has supported the
City of Frankston’s Art Centre for almost 10 years.
Left: Programmed horticulture expert Martin Crabb
discusses the gardens at Southern Cross Care
in Adelaide with Mr and Mrs Berryman who are
residents at the aged care facility.
Below right: Fremantle Football Club Captain
Matthew Pavlich, on behalf of Programmed, visited
the team at the ACTIV Foundation in Osborne Park
in Western Australia. Activ Business Services is a
contemporary Australian Disability Enterprise that
supports over 1,050 employees with a disability by
providing meaningful employment opportunities
across metropolitan and regional Western Australia.
18