Scentre Group recognises that connecting with the community is something it can do beyond its shopping centres, and for a number of years its staff from corporate offices and centres have found ways to engage with local communities in their own environments.
In most instances the activities are unique and customised to the needs of a particular community group, many of which fall under the Group’s nominated area of support for children living with disabilities.
In South Australia a team from Scentre Group worked at the Cora Barclay Centre to help revitalise the existing heritage listed portion of the facility. For several months, designers, builders and various Scentre Group suppliers worked at The Centre - which helps deaf and hearing-impaired children learn to speak – to help transform the much-needed facility with an upgrade to the reception, administrative office and grounds. Scentre Group staff volunteered their time and collaborated with existing contractors to deliver a welcome result for the Cora Barclay Centre.
In Sydney a 14-strong team from the Group’s head office participated in a working bee at Chifley Public School – putting their muscle and brain power to use by designing and creating new garden beds, cleaning windows and doing a general tidy-up of the gardens and surrounding areas. Over $700 worth of colourful pots and plants were donated to the school, which had a much-improved garden by the end of the day.
Another Scentre Group team provided a similar upgrade to the gardens at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance when six staff members spent the day working on site to remove old plants, replant garden beds and create a new herb garden.
The Group has facilitated these community initiatives through its Volunteer Leave program, whereby every staff member – permanent, part-time and fixed-term - are entitled to two paid Volunteer Leave Days per year. This enables employees to volunteer during work hours to help community groups, and in particular those that support kids with disabilities, by providing professional skills, participating in a working bee or makeover, helping at a charity fund-raising event or even assisting therapists and carers to take children on excursions.
In addition to the various activities outlined above the Group also conducts various fundraising activities and collection drives amongst its staff for charities and other community groups in need through its regular Giveability Days.
