Wests Group Community Magazine 2023

EVERYTHING WE DO IS For Macarthur

FROM THE Chairperson

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to share with you this special edition of our community magazine – a reflection of the work we are able to do in the community thanks to your continued patronage. We hope you enjoy this snapshot of some of the valuable initiatives we have been able to support over the past year.

Wests Group Macarthur is committed to being the most supportive sport and community contributor in the region. As a profit-for-purpose organisation, we ensure every dollar we make is delivered back into the community through grants, donations, sponsorships, and even better services and facilities for our members and guests. Thanks to the support of our patrons, we have been able to grow our community contributions to $2,417,182 toward local sports and community groups in the last year. This support has helped to deliver assistance to 30 schools, 52 organisations, 80 sports clubs, see countless betterment and support programs delivered across the region and made an enormous difference in thousands of lives.

We continue to believe in the vital role sport plays to improve the health and well-being of residents of the Macarthur region and how sport can enhance and strengthen the social fabric of the community. As such, Wests continues to invest heavily in grassroots sport, elite teams, athletes, and volunteers through our Sports-related grants, Wests Sports Council, and accompanying Annual Sports Award program. In 2022, we were pleased to host the inaugural Sports Volunteer of the Year awards, and what turned out to be a wonderful celebration of the value and spirit of our local sporting volunteers and look forward to doing so again in 2023.

I am pleased to share that Wests has also once again made a major investment in grassroots Rugby League in the region with another $330,000 committed in support of 23 clubs and 447 teams from Campbelltown to Wingecarribee. This funding helps to alleviate fee pressure on families through insurance and uniform subsidies as well as player and volunteer development programs.

Wests has been a long supporter of Football in Macarthur with over 15 years of partnership with MFA. We are thrilled to be able to double our sponsorship of the association in

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

support of further pathways, stronger competitions, and better opportunities for players and their families from Under 9’s all the way through to the local Premier League competition.

As the Macarthur region continues to grow, so to do our plans for new and improved facilities and in keeping with the Board’s Strategic Plan, we are committed to expanding and delivering services and new experiences for members and their guests. Following some successful aesthetic upgrades across our venues, we are propelling toward a full year of development works that will further enhance the member experience with us. We are especially excited about the opening of our exciting new destination venue at the Wests Tennis Club site

I must also thank our hardworking and resilient customerfacing, and back-of-house staff who through their extraordinary competence, character, passion, and dedication continue to be our biggest competitive advantage. We know it is our people that drive our business, making a commitment every shift to create memorable experiences for our patrons, represent our business with passion and support our community initiatives.

Lastly, to our loyal members Wests Group Macarthur exists for and on behalf of you. Thank you for your loyalty and contribution to our venues, and your support in our community endeavours.

We wish you good health and prosperity through 2023 and look forward to continuing to welcome you into our venues for the year ahead and beyond.

Chairperson

MARTIN BULLOCK Director

STEPHEN STEWART Director

STEPHEN NOYCE Director

ROY WARBY Director

PAUL LAKE J.P

Deputy Chairperson

GREG COPELAND Director

PROFIT FOR Purpose

Wests has been supporting the sporting and local community for almost 50 years and still stands by the mission to deliver the very best in dining, entertainment, and community support on behalf of our members. Thanks to the support of our patrons over the last year, we continued toward our goal of being the most strategically active and generous venue in Macarthur.

We are passionate about our community

• We are dedicated to making Macarthur the best it can be

• We deliver financial and practical support through sporting contributions and community development programs

• We invest on behalf of our members in local areas that matter to them

Did you know?

Since the year 2000, Wests is proud to have contributed more than $25,482,000 to the local community.

WHAT IS CLUBGRANTS?

ClubGRANTS is a funding scheme whereby registered clubs in NSW contribute to the provision of front line services in their community by providing support toward community organisations, and disadvantaged members of the community.

Wests Group Macarthur establishes local priorities covering the Macarthur region including the Campbelltown, Camden and Wollondilly LGA’s.

The use of ClubGRANTS Online is compulsory for all eligible clubs. Want to apply for a ClubGRANT with us? Simply visit the online portal www.clubgrants.com.au, check your eligibility and search for us in the ‘find your local grant round’.

Contribute $2,417,182 to the local community

Provide resources to 30 schools in the region

ASSIST 52 Community services and organisations

Contributed around $1,750,000 to Local sport

Support 35,129 Sport participants

Make a difference to THOUSANDS of lives

MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE TO

Macarthur

Through our ClubGRANTS fundraising and awareness initiatives, we are able to connect with and improve on the issues, challenges and opportunities in our region and offer support accordingly. Check out some of our wonderful highlights from 2022.

JOINING THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

Wests Group Macarthur was pleased to support 24 Hour Fight against Cancer with $20,000 in ClubGRANT funding for the Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre toward the comfort, support and services of those receiving Cancer treatment.

Through the funding, the Cancer Therapy centre was able to purchase equipment including three x CuroCell Area Zone pressure mattresses and six x SAF cushions for terminally ill patients and provide patients the choice of remaining in the safety and comfort of their own homes.

Wests also assisted in the purchase of electronic information boards for the centre to keep radiation patients aware of changes to treatment schedules, waiting times, health information advice and upcoming patient education forums.

CAMDEN WOMEN’S COOKING GROUP

Cancer Wellness centre helps to deliver complementary integrative therapies to patients undergoing Cancer Treatment. Wests was pleased to provide funding towards these services that make an enormous difference to patients including specialty oncology massage, acupuncture, and meditation to support patients, who have already been through so much through their clinical treatment regime.

YOUTH SOLUTIONS

Wests Group Macarthur prides itself on supporting programs that keep the community active and safe and were pleased to make a $5,000 commitment to support Youth Solutions’ DAIR (Drug and Alcohol Information and Resilience Skills) program in 2022.

The DAIR project is delivered as a series of workshops over several weeks, which aim to educate and develop skills to reduce drug and alcohol related harm. As well as providing drug and alcohol education and safety strategies, the project focuses on mental health and resilience aimed at developing positive coping and self-help seeking skills in young people.

We are also excited to be building a new project with Youth Solutions to provide drug and alcohol information and support to 12-17 year olds through community sports clubs. Stay tuned.

The Camden Digital Arts and Culture Center identified a need to create a safe space for women, especially aboriginal and immigrant women who were isolated, struggling or lacked support without family and friends around.

Wests, through the provision of supplies and ingredients, was happy to support the new Camden Women’s Cooking group that brings cultures together and connects women over food while also providing mental health training, workshops in mindfulness and wellbeing, information, advice and patient education forums.

SUPPORT FOR A SWITCHED ON MENS SHED

The Australian Men’s Shed Association is a national service provider supporting more than 1,200 Men’s, Women’s and Community Sheds and is recognised as one of Australia’s largest male-based community development organisations. When Men’s Shed Narellan reached out for some support to replace their electrical switchboard at their premises we were happy to help supporting their 80+ members to work in a safer environment.

FOSTER CARE ANGELS

Foster Care Angels exists to support, empower and create opportunities for children and young people in the foster care system and their families and has expanded their support for all disadvantaged children. Wests was pleased to provide funding toward the provision of a Mental Health and Resilience Online Training and APP A Maze

In Mind to educate and empower young people in essential life skills, signs of mental illnesses, strategies on coping with mental health issues and enhancing resilience.

When you are a part of Wests, you are a part of something more. With every visit you make, you make a genuine difference to the real people of the Macarthur region.

MENTORING MEN

Wests and Mentoring Men joined forces to bring to life the Community Development Project which helps men who are experiencing distress or a sense of helplessness by providing free one to one mentoring with professionally trained mentors. The program focuses on proactive prevention by engaging with men who need help before they spiral into crisis.

During Men’s Health week in June 2022, we also got together to host a free mens BBQ breakfast with both Mentoring Men and Mates in Construction to encourage blokes to make social connections and conversations about mental health.

CLONTARF FOUNDATION

The Clontarf Foundation works to improve the education, discipline, life skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men in the community and we are proud to work locally with students from Airds High School and Elizabeth Macarthur High School through ClubGRANTS and other special events. Through a $5,000 ClubGRANT we were able to provide a brand new trailer to allow transportation of equipment for their valuable camping trips, sporting initiatives and supplies to support the academies.

Our Wests team also attended the South Coast OzTag Tournament in December to go head to head against their Clontarf All Stars in a game of Tag and got to meet some of the awesome youth that are part of the program.

BEYOND THE BADGE

Wests was thrilled to once again help to bring to life the Beyond the Badge Career Transition program for First Responders. This program was delivered across a series of career transition workshops for members of the First Responder community including those who have sustained a physical injury or mental health related illness which has resulted in them having to look to alternative career opportunities.

The local Beyond the Badge program is delivered through corroborative funding from other clubs in the region including Campbelltown Catholic Club and Ingleburn RSL.

TAKING BACK CONTROL

PCYC has a long history of supporting Youth in the community through specialist programs to help youth develop skills, character and leadership. Wests is proud to partner with Campbelltown PCYC on the Taking Back Control project for youth at risk, designed to empower them to take their lives back and get out of gangs. The program is designed to empower vulnerable youth through exercise, wellbeing and mentoring workshops and provide the tools and support they need to build better relationships, resilience and connections.

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

Wests was pleased to fund a local Dress for Success program supporting 34 women across the Camden and Wollondilly region who have fallen into financial hardship and found it difficult to find work after challenging life circumstances.

TODAY A READER TOMORROW A LEADER

Through the ClubGRANT program, Wests was thrilled to provide funding to Narellan Public School toward the purchase of new Library books focusing on inclusivity, ability and cultural diversity for their school library. The books are intended to support children from a low socio economic category who may not have access to books in their homes and provide a mix of themes and topics that are closely related to the experiences of children from various cultural backgrounds and stories.

HEADSPACE

Wests is committed to the future generation of adults in our region. We were pleased to work with Headspace to fund the ‘Make-Space’ program, an art and creative activities program for a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing for youth in campbelltown. This project aims to connect young people aged 12-25 years together in a safe space, connecting them with other youth and enabling them to try different creative modalities.

to support them back!

DRIVING OUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic Violence has a devastating impact on families, children, and communities. Not only is it the number one cause for homelessness in woman and children, on average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner. This must stop.

Macarthur has some of the highest rates of Domestic Violence in NSW with over 1488 clients referred to the Macarthur Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service in the last year.

Wests Group Macarthur has prioritised a strong relationship with the local Domestic Violence committee for a united approach to tackling the challenges around funding, and delivery of services head on.

We are pleased to have supercharged our funding by over 200% and work closely with other local venues via the Campbelltown ClubGRANTS committee to fund a cross section of worthy projects and help to support the delivery of domestic violence related programs and services. Some of the projects in this space include:

Driving Out Violence

Convoy $5,000

Paws Pets at Risk Vet Care

$3,000

Macarthur Legal Centre

$5,000

Campbelltown DV Forum

$6,000

Campbelltown Women’s Coffee Club $6,000

Blue Wren House Waterproof Mattresses

$5,000

Escabags $3,000

Wren House Camden Women’s Shelter $20,000

living with a disability that offers unique Swim the Rainbow and Rainbow Squads programs. They offer a fun and safe community for children to have personalised swimming lessons catered to their needs and provide much needed social connections to families who provide the caregiving. Wests was really happy to support the purchase of swim school clothing to reduce the cost to families who use this service as well as support for their end of year social events.

WHEN CARERS NEED SOME CARE

Disability Macarthur, amongst other amazing services operate the Sunflower Cottage in Mt Annan to provide weekend accommodation for children and adults 8-65 years with high support and medical needs so that caregivers can take time out to attend a special family event or simply relax and recharge. When they reached out for some upgrades to their security system for the safety and security of their patients at the cottages Wests was happy to help.

We look forward to further supporting Sunflower Cottage in 2023 with much needed maintenance support.

IN OTHER

SUPPORT FOR OUR SENIORS!

Once a year as part of NSW Seniors Festival, Wests is proud to present our free Seniors expo around our Senior Socials showroom event. The expo provides our members with information and resources from a number of Senior Service providers in the local area including Probus, Carrington Care, Campbelltown Meals on Wheels, Service NSW, NSW Police, and many more.

This is a great opportunity for the over 55’s in our community to access services all in one location that may be able to support them. Plus we put on a great show and menu specials!

GETTING SPORTIES BACK ON THEIR FEET

When the community calls out for help, Wests Group Macarthur answers, as did a number of other clubs, emergency services and dedicated volunteers for Camden Sporties in 2022. This area of Camden was was completely overcome with flood water on three seperate occasions starting with devastating floods in March and then again in April and July.

We are honoured to have played such a significant and vital role in preparing Camden Sports Club for re-opening each time, supplying much needed items including furniture, gaming machines, plants, cutlery stations, ice machines, security system update, collateral, as well as resourcing and manpower towards training, transport, IT, marketing support and more.

CRISIS SUPPORT

Wests strongly believes in support for mental health and the incredible lifesaving work of Lifeline Macarthur and Western Sydney. We were pleased to contribute $20,000 towards delivering mental health and counselling services to the Macarthur region for another year.

The range of services include 24/7 Crisis Support telephone line, mobile counselling as well as financial counselling services. In addition, we are pleased to have invited the Lifeline Mobile Coffee Van to the Wests carpark for our members to grab a cuppa on us and talk to an expert in crisis prevention. Know someone who needs help? Refer them to 13 11 14.

WRAPT WITH LOVE

Christmas spirit was in full action at our incredible Volunteer gift wrapping event held at Wests League Club with Big Yellow Umbrella following our Xmas Giving Tree Appeal 2022.

Thanks to our wonderful community friends, members and gift wrappers for their support in helping to spread christmas joy to those who need it.

Over 1,000 gifts were delivered to the community as a result of the appeal!

WE LOVE GETTING OUT AND ABOUT

Community news With You

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For more information on our community support endeavours and who we support please visit www.westslc.com.au Do you know someone who could use our help? Contact us on community@westslc.com.au

Our team loves nothing more than being face to face with the Macarthur community at various community, family fun and special events.

RUGBY LEAGUE GALA DAY

FISHERS GHOST FUN

SPOTLIGHT ONSport

Wests strongly believes in the role that sport plays in the health and wellbeing of the community. So much so, one of our core objectives is to support the promotion and propagation of sports in the local area through the sponsorship of, and donations to, local sporting teams, athletes and sporting clubs. This is what we got up to last year.

The Wests Sports Council is an integral part of Wests Group Macarthur’s commitment to sport in the region and aims to create simple pathways for community access to affordable and well-administered sporting opportunities via a network of sporting clubs and associations.

The Wests Sports Council provides 29 sporting clubs and associations from the local area with a range of ways to recognise individual and teams’ achievements, commitment, and contribution to local sport including various awards programs.

The Wests Sports Council Annual Sports Awards is one of the great ways Wests helps to recognise local sport participants for their outstanding contributions to grassroots sport, sporting accomplishments and sporting spirit. Despite a disruptive year for grassroots sport, Wests Sports Council selected winners from hundreds of monthly nominations featuring stories of great skill, achievement, and sportsmanship. Check out our amazing winners and runners up from 2022.

WINNER ELITE SPORTS PERSON OF THE YEAR

William Salzmann | Campbelltown Camden District Cricket Club

WINNER ELITE SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR

Metro League Team 2 | Camden & District Netball Association

WINNER SENIOR SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR

Hayden Hooker | Western Suburbs District Rugby League Referees Association

RUNNER UP: SENIOR SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR

Megan Kellar | Wests Hockey Club

CONGRATS TO OUR 2022 WINNERS!

WINNER SPORTS CLUB TEAM OF THE YEAR

Under 16’s Magpies Cricket Club

RUNNER UP: SPORTS CLUB TEAM OF THE YEAR

Senior 2nd Grade | Magpies Cricket Club

WINNER YOUTH SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR (12 – 16YRS)

Cooper Robb Jackson | Mt Annan Swimming Club

RUNNER UP: YOUTH SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR (12 – 16YRS) Ryan Carter | Macarthur Triathlon

WINNER JUNIOR SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR (U12) Riley Lane | Macarthur BMX

RUNNER UP: JUNIOR SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR (U12) Lewis Eddie | Wests Hockey Club

WINNER SPIRIT OF SPORT

Rosina Anson | Tennis Macarthur

RUNNER UP: SPIRIT OF SPORT

Aaron Purdey | Softball Macarthur

WESTS SPORT COUNCIL MEMBERS

Camden AFL Cats

Camden & District Netball Association

Camden District Cricket Association

Camden District Umpires Association

Camden Tigers FC

Campbelltown Camden District Cricket Club

Campbelltown District Netball Association

Campbelltown Ghosts Junior Baseball Club

Campbelltown Harlequin Rugby Club

Eschol Park Little Athletics

Group 6 Referees Association

Macarthur Baseball League

Macarthur BMX

Macarthur District Football Referees Association

Macarthur Football Association

Macarthur Football RAMS

Macarthur Rugby League

Macarthur Triathlon Club

Macquarie Fields Swimming Club

Magpies Cricket Club

Metropolitan South West Hockey Association

Mount Annan Swimming Club

Oran Park Gregory Hills JRLFC

Oran Park Rovers (Soccer)

For

Softball Campbelltown

Tennis Macarthur

Wests Tigers Macarthur JRL

Wests Hockey Club

Wests Referees Association

CELEBRATING OUR Amazing Sporting Volunteers

Wests Group Macarthur was thrilled to present the inaugural Wests Sports Volunteer of the Year Awards on Saturday 21st May 2022, honouring the contribution of volunteers amongst Wests Sports Council Members and a broad network of sporting clubs and associations to the Macarthur sporting community.

The event, held at Wests League Club was timed during National Volunteer Week – Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering came off the back of a very disruptive period to grassroots sport with both Covid-19 and inclement weather challenging community sport like never before.

As a long-time supporter and sponsor of sport in the region, Wests Group developed the awards program to acknowledge and celebrate the enormous contribution of time and effort that sporting volunteers give to sport within Macarthur – a volunteer sector that represents around $4 billion dollars of labour input nationally.

The program accepted both long service submissions as well as one overall Youth (under 21yrs) and Adult (21+yrs) of the Year nominations and was open to all member clubs and associations of the Wests Sports Council who deliver local sport to Macarthur via a network representing upwards of 35,000 athletes, administrators, and volunteers.

Throughout the nomination period from February to April over 100 nominations were received from various codes including swimming, hockey, rugby league, AFL, Cricket, BMX, and more. Every nomination in the categories of 15, 20, 25, 30 years or more of service was recognised with a service pin, certificate, and gift from Wests with the total list of recipients cumulatively representing over 150 decades of service to sport in the region.

We congratulate all of the Volunteers for their commitment of service and once again congratulate our winners of the Youth and Adult categories respectively, Paige Morel of Ingleburn Softball Club and Glenn Schwarzel of Macarthur Triathlon.

We look forward to celebrating more stories from our sporting volunteers at our next awards night in May 2023.

READY, SET Action

We were thrilled to work with some of our Wests Sports Council members on marketing materials to help promote their amazing sports. Our community team spent many weekends spectating our sporting codes with camera in hand to capture the sporting action and create some long lasting assets celebrating the spirit of sport in macarthur. A campaign with some of the footage will be out soon.

LEADING THE WAY FOR FOOTBALL

Wests Group Macarthur has announced another key milestone in their support of sport in Macarthur, with the execution of a major partnership agreement with Macarthur Football Association Inc. (MFA) for the 2023 season making us the premier partner of football in Macarthur.

In addition to a significant investment towards subsidised player insurance fees to alleviate fee pressure on families, Wests is thrilled to add Macarthur RAMS Women’s FC to its ongoing support of Macarthur Rams FC and be the new major partner of the M League Competition. Congratulations

TEAM WEST is Best

There is no doubt our people are our greatest asset. Not only are our staff passionate about our customers but they always go above and beyond in their support for the local community. Check out some of the awesome initiatives of 2022.

SERVICE AWARDS

Congratulations to the following service winners for their commitment and longevity at Wests!

5 YEARS

• John Dellosa

• Caitee O’Donnell

• Natalie Roldan

• Adam Maxwell

• Hugh Keir

• Karina Blair

• David Carver

• John Panya

• Chris Manaton

• David Garcia

• Simon McNamara

• Quinru Chen

• Jessica Hogg

• Kelly Martin

• Brooke Bexterman

10 YEARS

• Teresa Gray

• Kelli Vance

• Matthew Attard

• Rucha Mate

• Daniel Elliott

• Garfield Forbes

• Sue Wright

• Rob Gibson

• Stuart Hadley

• Guy Billiterri

• Luke Risby

• Dean Hopper

• Jessica Da Farria

• Lynn Watts

• Bruce Punch

• Corey Harrison

CHALLENGE WALK

Wests was proud to be a presenting partner of Campbelltown City Council Challenge Walk 2022 and loves supporting initiatives that get the community out and about.

A bunch of TEAMWESTS legends showed up on the beautiful, crisp, and sunny morning to tackle 6kms and 11kms around Mt Annan Gardens. Gaming Supervisor Chris Manaton led the team smashing 6km in just over 50mins and ranking 32 amongst 700+ participants.

REAL LIFE ANGELS!

15 YEARS

• Kevin Weatherstone

• Martin Bullock

20 YEARS

• Debbie Coles

• Shirley Imber

• Richard Mifsud

• Glenn Douglas

• Olive Moss

25 YEARS

• Gale Warner

WESTS STEPS UP TO CLEAN UP

Caring for the environment is really important to us so we invited our amazing #teamwests volunteers to join us around World Environment day in our very own Clean Up Leumeah Initiative.

The team managed to collect and dispose of 31 bags of rubbish from our venue surrounds keeping trash out of parks and waterways. Go team!

Wests Group Macarthur was pleased to share member David Mulloy has recovered well following a cardiac arrest which occurred within our venue with special thanks to his “Guardian Angels” who administered CPR, mouth to mouth and applied a life saving defibrillator.

With first aid training provided to Supervisors and Managers, the quick thinking and reactive response provided by Wests team members Julia, Emily & Karina was crucial to David’s Survival.

We are exceptionally proud of our team.

MO-VELLOUS JOB!

A huge shout to our MoBro team for their efforts and to everyone who generously donated to our Movember team in 2022. Our Wests MoBros managed to raise a whopping $5,429 to go towards medical research, ground-breaking tests and trials, life-changing men’s health programs and innovative treatments. Special thanks for Director Roy Warby who lead the fundraising with $2,495. Your dough helped save a BRO!

WOW DAY

The Wests team was proud to support SES Wear it Orange Wednesday (WOW Day), donning the Hi-Vis to help support our amazing SES volunteers and colouring our venues Orange.

WOW day, Wednesday 18th May, falls during National Volunteer Week and is designed to thank the SES volunteers who generously give their time to help communities during flood and storm emergencies. Wests not only has some very proud Wests members amongst our local SES team but we are also honoured to be the chosen venue in the region for frontline meal support during emergencies.

TEAMWESTS FOR THE WIN!

A bunch of Wests legends represented our staff Oz tag team in December at the Clontarf Foundation South Coast Oz Tag Tournament. It was great to have such an enthusiastic (and talented) Wests team on the field, the support from our friends at Wests Tigers Rugby League and New South Wales Rugby League, and to be able to support Clontarf – a great community organisation and Wests ClubGRANTS recipient.

TURNING POINT

Wests is proud to support Turning Point Camden Inc., an amazing not-for-profit community welfare and drop-in centre for men and women with a range of services including emergency food relief, mental health and domestic and family violence support, and men’s and women’s support groups plus much more.

In addition to providing support for the pantry program via ClubGRANTS, The Wests team is honoured to host a handful of Men’s breakfasts, held every Friday at the centre. If you or someone you know could do with a helping hand - know that there are amazing people in our community ready to help.

WORLDS GREATEST SHAVE

VEGAS BABY!

Congratulations to our Staff Star Las Vegas Crew 2022! This is Wests most prestigious staff award for those that have shown exceptional performance and commitment to Wests.

• Laura Piper

• Helen Noble

• Laurie Cuthbert

• Elizabeth Woolaston

• Alexie Leikvold

• Bree Warters

• Ben Dzevlan

• Di Lawrence

• Dallas Borg

• Allan Lee

• Bruce Punch

Wests was thrilled to be the presenting partner of the 2022 Worlds Greatest Shave - Macarthur event and support an incredible local team who braved the shave for the team “Chop it like it’s Hot” in the fight to end Blood Cancer. The team, joined by Wests staff members Leanne Richmond and David Jackson as well as Deputy Chairman Paul Lake raised a whopping $18,460 thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts of shavers & colourers, local business support via raffle prizes, and donations from Wests Group Macarthur.

WE REALLY GIVE A DUCK About Cancer

Wests Group Macarthur staff members Leanne Craig and Kelly Robinson represented Team Ten Four Rubber Ducky in the largest community-led fundraiser for Cancer Council Australia - The Shitbox Rally. Joining the Shitbox Rally Spring from October 15th – 21st, Ten Four Rubber Ducky travelled over 3,300kms from Mackay to Darwin via the Savannah Way to raise funds in the fight against Cancer.

Shitbox Rally is not a race but rather an adventure that challenges participants and their cars, worth no more than $1,500, over a seven day journey through Australia’s most formidable roads with a small group of other rally participants. The rally presents an incredible opportunity to see Australia’s vast and beautiful countryside bringing people together who have either experienced Cancer themselves or have been impacted by Cancer through family and friends.

Leanne and Kelly who lead Wests Group Macarthur’s People and Culture team were inspired to join Shitbox Rally by long-time Wests Group Macarthur team member Jessica Pereira who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2021 at age 33. Leanne Craig shares, “We were excited to challenge ourselves in the most creative way and do something practical to support not only Jess but every person touched by Cancer”.

Wests Group Macarthur supported the initiative as a major sponsor and donated a retired 2004 Holden Rodeo formerly used as a Wests maintenance vehicle valued at just $1,400. Ten Four Rubber Ducky transformed the Holden into a giant duck in honour of Jess and others touched by Cancer by entering the brightly coloured vehicle with a giant beak bonnet, blow-up duck on the roof, and sponsor and supporter stickers applied.

The team invited anyone keen to support to “Donate a Duck” on behalf of friends and family who have been affected by Cancer through two variations of stickers including a small WHAT THE DUCK and a large I GIVE A DUCK (in honour of) Sticker that went onto be displayed on the vehicle throughout the 3,300 kilometre journey!

$11,405

The amazing team raised

228% per cent over their fundraising goal.

WESTS THE Environment

WE LOVE FOOD NOT WASTE

We use 2 x food digestive systems (ORCA) turning food waste into an environmentally safe liquid that exits using existing sanitary sewer infrastructure. This also eliminates trucking and therefore emissions from the process.

SUSTAINABLE GOLF

EARTH FRIENDLY BUILDING

OVER 140 KW of Solar Panels offset 99 tonne of Carbon Emissionsequivalent to 21 cars on the road for a year.

• All of our buildings are fitted with thermal performance products for roof, external walls, and glazing.

• Our building are designed to minimising air leakage to airconditioned spaces.

• We have Stormwater Retention Systems to irrigation systems to supply and distribute reusable water across our venues.

• We only use energy-saving specification light bulbs.

At Lakeside Golf Course, we are not only committed to our impressive greens but also being green. We have;

• Implemented an environmental management system* to ensure we have an auditable system to identify and measure our footprint.

• A state-of-the-art filtration system that diverts stormwater from urban areas to reuse on the course through irrigation.

• Dedicated retention and detention basins sitting on course to treat stormwater.

• The latest technology irrigation system with remote access control of every sprinkler on course.

• Installed a system whereby all wastewater from the clubhouse is redistributed to the course.

• Officially become a Carbon Sink** with carbon offset from the course grass higher than most forests.

• Helped to preserve and maintain protected Cumberland Plain woodland remnant areas.

• Trained our Greenkeepers in the latest environmental awareness studies.

RETURN AND EARN FOR GOOD

Wests is proud of our partnership with Hoxton Industries in South West Sydney. Our Return and Earn program sees drink containers across Wests venues diverted from landfill and recycled via Hoxton. Hoxton Industries go onto provide meaningful employment to more than 100 people who face barriers to mainstream employment, including people living with disabilities.

In the last 12 months we have been busy sowing and growing with;

At Wests Group Macarthur we are committed to a stronger, more sustainable future. We aim to invest in sustainable options to contribute to our energy and waste management.