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Melbourne – February 2012

From the CEO’S Desk

When I left school I had the sense that there was a wonderful adventure ahead of me. Free from the constraints of school I could now decide my next step with the world at my feet. I considered an array of options- getting a job, studying, or taking time out to travel. My parents were there to support me, keen to help financially, give me introductions for employment, and generally encourage me to be all that I could be.

It’s a wonderful thing to have this great sense of hope in the future, however many of the young people that United Way support have far fewer choices. Their options are narrowed by their own experience and that of their parents, who often have limited education or employment. Did you know that Australia has one of the highest rates of jobless families in the OECD? This simply means that Mum and Dad are unemployed and in many cases, their Grandparents were unemployed as well.

Take Sam, for example. She’s 17 and in her last year of school in the outer suburbs of one of our major cities. Sam’s parents have not worked for the last 10 years. One has a mental illness and both have been unable to find stable employment. Sam’s doing OK at school and could pursue further education at TAFE, which she has started at school. She is taking advice on her career options from her parents and peers, who have no real capacity to advise her beyond what they’ve experienced themselves. Without the right support to show her the possibilities beyond her current circumstances, Sam is quite likely to join the 1 in 3 school leavers who, instead of signing up to further education or work, end up doing nothing or living with considerable instability; ad hoc work that has no capacity to sustain them in life.

It’s so easy to label these young people as drop outs or delinquents. In doing so, we fail to appreciate that where we end up in life is inherently shaped by our circumstances and the extent to which we have options to pursue. So many people simplistically think that all these young people need to do is get a job, with no understanding of the considerable barriers they face. At United Way we look behind those labels to see the inherent potential in our young people, providing them with the hope and resources to explore what they could be ONE DAY.

Together, we are achieving some great results that are changing the life trajectory of young people. Take these examples from two schools in which we work:

• A Secondary School Principal recently told us that, through the work of our partners including many of our volunteers, the students in his school have achieved a 16% increase in those achieving more than 70% in their School Certificate – in just one year.
• Another program produced a 36% decrease in absenteeism and a reduction of suspensions from 118 in 2010 to only one in 2011.

These are real results that change the lives of young people. We cannot do this without your support as donors and volunteers. Thanks for continuing to support United Way and please share with others the great things we are doing to provide young people with options that can help them be all that they can ONE DAY.

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2011 Christmas Appeal Wrap Up

Happy Faces

A big thank you to our 17 wonderful Corporate Partners who gave so generously as part of our Christmas Appeal this year.

Your donations resulted in a total of over 3,000 children and adults around Australia receiving Christmas gifts.

The total value of gifts, food and hampers is estimated at over $70,000, including $15,000 of gifts and donations made via our new online option.

The 40 local community organisations that received and distributed the gifts on our behalf were all extremely thankful and have asked that we pass on their appreciation!

Please click through to the photo album for a snapshot of the joy the gifts have brought to the recipients. If you can, start the sound up when you start the slideshow:
http://unitedwaysydney.phanfare.com/5398703

We hope you all enjoyed the Festive Season & look forward to working with you further in 2012!

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Dolly Parton and the Imagination Library

Penny van der Sluys – with Dolly in Melbourne

Dolly Parton is a major philanthropist in the field of early childhood literacy and her Imagination Library, which launched in 1997, now operates in the USA, Canada and the UK. The Imagination Library works with local communities; through sponsorships and donations children receive a book from Dolly every month from birth to the age of five. Each book contains ideas for parents about how to get best use from it and more than 667,000 children are currently registered worldwide. The research continues to confirm that parents read significantly more to their children after receiving books from the Imagination Library – the more books in the home and the more these books are read with the child, the more prepared the child will be for a lifetime of learning.

Dolly Parton toured Australia for the first time in over 20 years in November and December. As a prelude to her tour, United Way organised for the President of the Dollywood Foundation, David Dotson, to engage in cross sector consultations to explore the feasibility of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library operating in Australia. On November 11th 2011, at Commonwealth Bank’s Elizabeth Street office, David Dotson met with United Way representatives and organisations including The Victorian Department of Early Education and Childhood Development, Good Beginnings, The Cathy Freeman Foundation, The Library Agency, The State Library of Victoria, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Coles.

United Way Australia and Rotary are now working closely with David in order to determine the best way of introducing the Imagination Library in Australia. Several guests (including Penny van der Sluys, GM Melbourne – pictured with Dolly) of the Dollywood Foundation were also lucky enough to have the chance to meet Dolly and attend her concert.

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2011 ExxonMobil Day of Caring

Melbourne Day of Caring Volunteers

On November 16, ExxonMobil Australia held its annual Day of Caring. The Day of Caring is the largest corporate volunteering program United Way helps coordinate in Australia. The day involved 250 employees helping 21 organisations in Perth, Metropolitan Melbourne and Gippsland – local communities where ExxonMobil Australia operates. United Way Australia have been partnering with ExxonMobil for nine years to run the program.

The volunteers undertook tangible tasks such as gardening, painting, packing and cleaning at a variety of community organisations such as Vision Australia, Guide Dogs Victoria, Alkira (pictured), Alzheimer’s Australia, SIDS & Kids, Independence Australia and Lighthouse Foundation.

“The Day of Caring provides an opportunity for our employees to help organisations and it is one of many programs we support to promote the importance of volunteering,” said Lisa Trood, ExxonMobil Australia Community Relations Manager.

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2012 Grants

The grant making for 2012 is now finalised and the recipients are:

During late 2011 and throughout 2012 United Way Australia will support the following initiatives:

United Way granted the last of the Bushfire allocated funding in 2011 to two innovative approaches that will assist recovery for young people – years after the event and when a lot of the attention and help has died down:

Congratulations to all our community partners – we look forward to working with you throughout 2012!

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Three years on from the Victorian Bushfires…

To coincide with the third anniversary we will be posting a blog on our new United Way website written by Jo Ensor, the Bushfire Recovery Officer United Way has funded for the past few years. This will be a reflective piece similar to that posted by Mick McDade, United Way Australia’s Queensland General Manager, about the first anniversary of the floods and the work they are doing to help the Goodna community rebuild their lives.

Both projects are an example of the work that United Way can do to support communities to rebuild. Often the emergency relief efforts only last 6 -12 months after such natural disasters, yet for the people who make up these communities the realities of building their lives takes much longer. United Way partnered with the Salvation Army to support the community in the long term as community services are often lacking before the disasters and there is no increase in these services to deal with the additional community requirements post disasters.

You can view our blogs here.

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Vanguard and Crew welcomed on Board with United Way

John James presents United Way with $10,000

United Way has recently welcomed Vanguard as its newest Melbourne-based Corporate Partner.

Since establishing the first indexed mutual fund in the US in 1976, The Vanguard Group Inc has grown into one of the world’s largest and most respected investment management companies. Vanguard has around 250 staff (crew), the majority of which are located in the Melbourne office with sales offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

For Vanguard, engaging in a community program was something they knew that they wanted to do, but it was critical that they chose the right partner to work with so that they could achieve their objectives to:

• build a corporate culture that values contributions to the community,
• enhance crew morale, and
• strengthen crew engagement.

After a comprehensive due-diligence engagement, United Way is pleased to welcome Vanguard onboard.

According to Doug Taylor, CEO of United Way Australia, “Vanguard gave us what was probably the most comprehensive examination we have ever had, they examined us inside and out, locally, nationally and internationally. I have been tempted to say to our chair Brian Long that, even though he has had a long and distinguished career and been the senior audit partner for Ernst & Young, he could learn a thing or two from Vanguard!”

With their rigorous approach and commitment to creating a program that engages with the community at all levels of the company, we have seen them raise $10,000 in less than three months and collect over 200 gifts as part of United Way’s Christmas appeal!  Penny van der Sluys was presented a cheque for $10,000 by John James, Vanguard Australia’s Managing Director, at a pre-Christmas event (pictured). With such a great start, we look forward to seeing what Vanguard and United Way can achieve together!

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United we Advocate: Community Champion, Shangitha Rajendran

The Vanguard Crew Volunteering at the Doxa Camp in Malmsbury

United Way asks our supporters to make a difference in 3 key ways – Give, Advocate and Volunteer. Vanguard is one of our new corporate partners and they have a team of dedicated and passionate advocates within their organisation, raising awareness of United Way’s Community Impact approach and the lasting ways in which communities and individuals benefit. In the few months since their launch, they have been encouraging their colleagues to take part in their Workplace Giving program, Corporate Connect volunteering days, and running a very successful Christmas appeal.  Their Victorian team of just over 200 bought 205 gifts benefiting Open Family Australia, Good Beginnings Australia and Salvation Army Eastcare!  Here we ask Vanguard’s Shangitha Rajendran to tell us about being a Community Champion.

1.       What drew you to the role of Community Champion?
I am passionate about all things to do with charity, whether it is fundraising, volunteering or informing people about causes. There are many people in this world who are not as well off as us and I think it is important to give back.

2.       What do you see as your role and why is it important to have a network of champions in an organisation?
My role as community champion is to promote the Vanguard community program and encourage crew (Vanguard employees are referred to as crew – as part of the naval theme throughout the organisation and evidenced by their ship logo) to participate. I also see myself as the point of contact when people have questions. I may not have all the answers however, in most cases, I have access to information and resources to be able to assist.
It is important to have a network of champions because sometimes people just need a bit of encouragement to participate or there is one thing that is stopping them and the champion can help them out (even if it is as simple as IT assistance for registration). As a champion, a network means that you can share the workload and bounce ideas off each other.  From a participant point of view, some people are more comfortable with different champions because they might have already worked with them. Several champions mean people have choice.
Community not only means giving back to people who are not as well off as you but to also build a sense of Community within the organisation.  A network of champions can help increase morale within the workplace.

3.       Can you share some ideas and initiatives you have come up with to advocate participation in community activities?
At Vanguard we have a community committee, here are some of the ideas we have used to encourage participation:

• We have engaged the most senior people in the organisation early on. They have helped guide strategy and vision for the program.
• We try and communicate at different levels from large company-wide forums to smaller team meetings. Even with electronic methods of communication such as emails, we communicate from a company level and then also at the individual champion level.
• We have a campaign with targets, from awareness targets to volunteer participation and fund raising targets.
• Sometimes I do a walk-around of the office talking to people about different initiatives. It is a good conversation starter with people you may not already know. I’ve been known to randomly talk about the program whilst in the elevator.
• We also make it a point to celebrate successes within the program.

4.       What is the most rewarding aspect of being a champion and what does it give you as an individual, both personally and professionally?
The most rewarding aspect is definitely the ability to see that you have made a difference. This can vary from seeing the fulfilment that people get from volunteering for the first time to the difference that your fundraising or volunteering has made to your local community.
Professionally being a champion gives you an opportunity to develop your leadership, motivational and organisational abilities.

5.       What advice would you give to someone who was interested in starting out as a champion? Would you recommend the role?
I would advise people to put your hand up and show interest. Often senior management don’t know of your interest and skills unless you tell someone or put your hand up when opportunities arise.

6.       What has been the highlight for you so far in the role?
There have been many highlights. However, the most recent one was attending one of the volunteer days, which was a garden spring clearing event for a home for elderly, disabled residents.  I really enjoyed the day even though I have a passionate dislike for gardening. Somehow the team effort and camaraderie made it an enjoyable experience. Also, after we finished the day, seeing the look of appreciation on the resident’s faces and the relief on the residential support coordinator’s face that a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders, was priceless. Looking at the before and after photos was also good so that we could see the physical difference we made that day.

7.       Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
There are many ways that you can give back. The Vanguard Community Program is another opportunity that is available to crew to give back.

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Introducing Miranda Jacques

Miranda Jacques

Miranda has joined the team in Melbourne as Corporate Volunteer Manager responsible for our Corporate Connect program and events.  Miranda has significant NFP event and project management experience in the arts. She most recently worked for Kultour organising national tours for artists, producers and presenters and is an active volunteer with Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Adult Migrant Education Service.

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