The 2021 CSL Behring Broadmeadows Community Grant was awarded to Enable Social Enterprises. Enable’s Affordable Tech Service Centre and Showroom project seeks to reduce e-waste, tackle the worsening digital divide in disadvantaged communities by providing affordable tech products, and provide employment opportunities for young people with disabilities living in the Broadmeadows area. With CSL’s funding, Enable will create a retail showroom where they will train people in sales skills and provide the community with access to affordable technology.
In September 2020, CSL Behring Broadmeadows signed a four-year partnership with the LaTrobe University-led In2science program to deliver science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programs in local Broadmeadows schools. The partnership, the first of its kind for CSL Behring Broadmeadows, will enable In2science to deliver their in-school mentoring program to more than 150 year 7 to 10 students each year in the Hume Local Council Area. In2science is an innovative and proven school partnership program that places university students as peer mentors in Victorian secondary schools to support groups of students traditionally underrepresented in STEM, including students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, girls, students from regional and rural areas, and Indigenous students. The program is a joint venture funded by the Victorian Government through the Strategic Partnerships Program, corporate sponsors such as CSL Behring Broadmeadows, and In2science’s five partner universities – La Trobe University, The University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology and Monash University.
CSL Behring Australia and New Zealand has made a pledge that every year we will award two $10,000 Giving for Good Community Grants.
In mid-2017 we selected our first Giving for Good partner – The Salvation Army. At a town Hall held at our Docklands office, Brendan Nottle - Commanding Officer, spoke about several programs implemented by the Salvation Army. CSL Behring ANZ voted to support the Salvation Army’s Hamodava Café. Every day the Hamodava Café serves breakfast, lunch and dinner for around 200 of Melbourne’s homeless and disadvantaged people, and at night it provides a safe and warm space in which people can sleep. So far, our team has decided to use their annual CSL Volunteer Day to work at the Hamodava Cafe
More recently CSL Behring ANZ selected our second community partner – the Australian Red Cross (ARC) - the parent organisation of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. The Blood Service collects blood and plasma donations made by Australia’s voluntary donors, and CSL Behring fractionates the plasma from these donations under the National Fractionation Agreement for Australia. Following a presentation from the ARC we voted to support the ARC’s Trauma Teddies initiative. Trauma teddies are hand knitted by ARC volunteers, and our $10,000 Giving for Good grant will be directed towards buying wool and stuffing. ARC volunteers hand out Trauma Teddies to people who simply need something to hang onto following being involved in a time of terrible trauma.
Moving forward, each year CSL Behring ANZ will review our community partnerships, and the programs they offer that we have chosen to support, and decide as a team whether we will continue our support or select a new community partner/program.
