Connecting with the Community

 

A culture of community spirit underpins Box Hill Institute’s relationships with all our business, individual and community clients. The Institute’s corporate values recognise the importance of contributing to and having a positive impact within our community.

 

Box Hill Institute collaborates with the community to improve education and employment outcomes for local people, and has a particular emphasis on ensuring access and equity for all. The Institute also supports the active involvement in community issues and causes.

 

Examples of good corporate social responsibility can be seen through the involvement of our students, staff and clients in local programs. Here are just some of the positive outcomes.

 

Rotary Club Global Education Program

As a result of the partnership established in 2010 with Rotary District 9810, the Institute is able to expand its Global Education Program. In August, the Global Education Program was launched which provides scholarships for Vocational Education and Training students aged over 18 years. The focus of the program is to provide exchange opportunities to students who would not be able to participate in existing overseas exchange programs.

 

Another important aspect of the program is the focus on helping communities in need, where students can gain valuable industry experience and cultural awareness while helping others. Examples of these programs could include building, plumbing and nursing students going into a community with poor sanitation to improve both the infrastructure and education of community members.

 

KOTO International

Know One, Teach One (KOTO) is a not-for-profit hospitality training organisation that has trained in excess of 300 young and disadvantaged Vietnamese youth in Hanoi over the past 10 years. KOTO is an extended campus of Box Hill Institute, and part of a unique, not-for-profit social enterprise business model.

 

In April, the Institute hosted the KOTO Cook-Off Fundraiser. Over 160 guests attended the event and approximately $18,000 was raised, which will ensure the KOTO program continues to change the lives of disadvantaged children.

 

Kinglake Ranges Business Enterprise Centre

During the year, the Institute commenced an initiative to assist small businesses affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires to re-establish themselves and to assist new small businesses to start in the area by providing business advice and information, as well as networking and workshop opportunities.

 

With funding from Small Business Victoria and Regional Development Victoria, the Institute has worked with the Kinglake Ranges Business Network, Murrindindi Shire, and other local business groups to establish a Business Enterprise Centre (BEC) in the Kinglake Ranges.

 

The BEC services the Kinglake, Toolangi, Kinglake West and Flowerdale areas. A number of our previous and existing New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) participants also come from this area. The mentoring of these NEIS participants will now also be undertaken through the Kinglake Ranges BEC. The Kinglake Ranges BEC was officially launched in October.

 

Box Hill Institute Charitable Foundation

During 2010, the Box Hill Institute Charitable Foundation was established as a special purpose fund to support the Institute’s charitable activities. The Charitable Foundation is governed by a Charter, approved by the CEO and its activities will be administered and overseen by a Foundation Advisory Committee.

 

The purpose of the Box Hill Institute Charitable Foundation is to provide support for the following charitable activities:

 

  • Support for the advancement of education.
  • Providing opportunities for meaningful education and occupation disadvantaged or homeless youth in the Whitehorse and Manningham communities, and beyond.
  • Providing support for gifting and capital raising campaigns of benefit to education through the Institute to Box Hill Institute students.
  • Providing a mechanism for distributing bequests and gifts provided by donors for the purposes of supporting educational outcomes particularly for the disadvantaged or disengaged.
  • Provision of scholarships for domestic students for the purposes of undertaking student projects, overseas studies or other activities as approved by the CEO.
  • Other charitable activities as approved from time to time in accordance with the Institute’s corporate social responsibility objectives.

 

Public Tenant Program

The Institute ran a successful community project in partnership with the Department of Human Services in the area of Carpentry training. The Public Tenant Program has been designed to create job opportunities for people in public housing and to stimulate demand for skilled workers in local areas. The Institute will be continuing with this program in 2011, which has resulted in excellent employment outcomes for participants in the pilot program.

 

Community Lunch Program

Box Hill Institute and Harrison Community Services continued to work together to deliver our partnering Community Lunch Program. Students from our Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Studies prepare the meals and our Senior Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students assist Harrisons Services staff and volunteers with the setup, serving and cleanup of the community lunch. This Program, which has run for the past four years, provides students with the opportunity to gain valuable life skills from interacting with the community and to ‘give back’ to the local community.

 

Our Patch

In 2010 and in partnership with the City of Manningham, the Institute established a new training workplace that gives job seekers the opportunity to learn and expand knowledge bases through ‘Our Patch’ sustainable fruit and vegetable garden in Wetherby Road, Doncaster.

 

This Australian Government funded initiative is run by a dedicated gardener and is staffed by a wide range of job seekers interested in starting careers in gardening, horticulture and the hospitality industry – an industry which is increasingly interested in consumer taste preferences for organic and local food.

 

This project shows ways in which we can model sustainability in a production garden. The garden has been created whilst teaching our trainees permaculture and techniques to maximise urban growing space, such as vertical gardening.

 

Management Training for Indigenous Australians

The Institute delivered a customised Certificate IV in Frontline Management through a joint project between Box Hill Institute and the Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place Pty Ltd, funded by Skills Victoria. The aim of the pilot program was to provide a culturally appropriate, substantial and effective leadership and management training for currently employed indigenous community members. In 2010, seven participants completed the program.

 

Work Placement Programs

Work placement programs ran during the year, which provided benefit to the community. Examples include:

 

  • One hundred Business Programs students volunteered to undertake work placement in a wide variety of local industry groups. Overall approximately 1,000 days of community service were undertaken as a result.
  • One hundred and fifty Information Technology students were involved in an Industry-Based Learning program, which involved rebuilding and donating over 300 Institute personal computers to several community groups. These included Best Chance Child and Family Care Network, Box Hill North Primary School and Villa Maria; and
  • Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Beauty students provided hand massages to elderly residents in the local area, which was part of a Communication and Work Related Skills subject.

 

Student Fundraising Initiatives

A number of fundraising initiatives were run by students during the year. Some examples include:

  • Hospitality students held a fundraising event for the UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Appeal. All proceeds raised were donated to UNICEF and the Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal. This appeal had an educational focus with a ‘school-in-a-box’ program and assisted the Haiti Government’s Ministry of Education in the establishment of temporary ‘school tents’.
  • Hospitality students held a cupcake fundraising day for the RSPCA. Patisserie and Events students were involved in running the event to support the ongoing services of the RSPCA.
  • Sports students ran an award night with all funds raised donated to Family Access Network, which is a local organisation that supports homeless youths.
  • Hair, Beauty and Floristry students, along with staff, fundraised for a number of worthy causes, including Beyond Blue, an Aveda event – Walk for Water, Help for Haiti, Rotary Clubs/Schools, Very Special Kids, Animal Aide & World Wildlife Fund, Rotary Club & Box Hill Central, National Breast Cancer Foundation and an international scholarship for a Floristry Student.

 

Whitehorse Business Group

To support and maintain a close connection with local business, the Institute continued to take a prime role in the Whitehorse Business Group. The Whitehorse Business Group represents the interests of the local business community and aims to assist the development of business initiatives within the City of Whitehorse. In 2010, the Institute was a registered member of the Group, with representation on the Board and as the elected Chair.

 

Community Sponsorships

Sponsorship was provided to a significant number of community organisations to assist them with their fundraising activities. Organisations included the Lupus Foundation, Special Olympics, Burgess Foundation, Reach Out For Kids, Rotary Groups from the City of Whitehorse, Eastern Relief, Great Southern Tour and local sporting groups.