Working to create positive change in our communities

Our community program was established as a way to get involved with and create meaningful connections with the communities in which we operate. With almost $6 million being invested over four years, we’re committed to helping people in our communities reach their destination.

We started with our people

Since the program was established in March 2016, it has doubled in size. However, to understand how far we’ve come, we need to go back to where it all began, with our people. We initially asked them what community issues they felt strongly about and would like addressed. From this we built a community program that was focused on our employees and also the projects they were passionate about – being mental health, Indigenous participation and substance misuse.

To embed the program within our business, we established the Community Ambassadors program. Jo Powell, Community Engagement Manager at Viva Energy Australia said, “The Community Program has to be a way we do business and be integrated into our day to day jobs. Being a Community Ambassador is seen as such an important role. We have 35 ambassadors across Australia from all parts of our business, who in addition to their day job, implement the Community Program within their teams and across our sites.”

One of the aspects we’re most proud of is the way our people have embraced the program. In 2017, around 800 employees participated in the program in one way or another, completing 1,098 Good Deeds and helping to raise over $230,000* for our employee and team fundraising programs (including the dollars matched by Viva Energy). Our Community Ambassadors played an important role in driving this participation.

Karina Skourletos said, “Being a community ambassador enables me to support a cause I am passionate about – youth mental health. Thanks to the support from my line manager, I have the opportunity to volunteer with headspace, one of our community partners. Through this, I see how young people benefit from the funding and volunteering we provide to people who use their services.”

Working with our communities

We’re committed to giving back to our communities by investing in partnerships with organisations such as the Council for Aboriginal Alcohol Program Services (CAAPS) and Northern Futures, and supporting local projects that foster positive role models to address significant community challenges.

Our role model grants program helped ten people in Geelong’s northern suburbs experiencing mental health illness participate in the Recovery Workers from Wellways eight week ‘My Recovery Program’, giving them an increased capacity to cope, study or work and positively participate in daily life.

A $10,000 grant resulted in a much needed make-over of a house operated by SalvoConnect’s Geelong Residential Withdrawal Unit, helping to create a safe and positive environment for people recovering from substance misuse.

Twenty-one students aged 17 and 18 who have a disability and attend Warringa Park School in Victoria developed new skills through a three week Youth Pathways program by Gateway Community Services. “These young people have been empowered. They’re now in a position to maximise their talents. They’ve shifted their mindset about what they can achieve. They have clear goals and action plans and new coping mechanisms. Importantly they’re focussed on their abilities rather than their disabilities,’ says Zytel Hircoe, Gateway Board member.

Making a difference through our business

We recognise the importance of using our core business to create long-term sustainable change.

As part of the Federal Government’s commitment to help reduce petrol sniffing in communities where it has been identified as a problem, we proudly supply up to 40 million litres of low aromatic fuel (LAF) every year into Northern Australia and support the team who work with the affected communities. Researchers from the University of Queensland and Menzies School of Health Research found that there has been a 96 per cent reduction in petrol sniffing between 2005 and 2014 in communities where the LAF program has been rolled out.

To increase Indigenous participation and supplier diversity, we have also become a member of Supply Nation, a not-for-profit organisation that connects Australian companies and governments to Indigenous businesses.

We’re proud of the positive impact our community program has, but we’re always looking for ways we can continue to build on its success. In early 2018, we are launching an exciting new partnership with the Cathy Freeman Foundation which will see us work together to empower young Indigenous Australians from four remote communities in QLD and NT to stay engaged in their schooling through culturally appropriate education. In addition, our people will have a chance to volunteer with headspace as a mentor and be paired with a young person needing career support through a new headspace Digital Industry Mentoring Service.