Vinnies CEO Sleepout

Homelessness is an increasingly common reality affecting many families and individuals across Australia and New Zealand, and existing services that assist those who are forced to sleep rough have been overwhelmed by a surge in demand.

More funding is always needed to support these vital resources, and to show our support, Ausco’s very own managing director George Petrohilos contributed to his volunteer hours by taking part in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Society Australia .

George spent a very cold but very insightful night at Riverstage in Brisbane’s botanical gardens and as a whole, Ausco were able to raise $6358 which is enough to provide 20 support programs, 52 beds and 211 meals to people in need.

Sustainability Spotlight: Perth Hire Yard

In Q2, the spotlight was on our Perth hire yard, who have recently undertaken a number of large sustainability projects to improve their efficiency and offset the environmental impacts of their operations.

The primary improvement is a large 75kW rooftop solar system which has been installed on the warehouse roof. This will enable us to reduce our consumption of energy from the grid by about 25% while generating our own solar power, thereby reducing our carbon emissions.

To complement this, the Perth team also recently commissioned a new water reduction initiative, capturing rainwater from the roof and storing it for use in the yard, reducing reliance on potable water for washdowns and other yard use. Additionally, they continued their polystyrene recycling program with large industrial bags filled up and taken away, ensuring the products are disposed of the correct and sustainable way.

These three initiatives go hand in hand at reducing the environmental impact of our operations in Western Australia.

Enriching Education: Goodna Special School

Catering for children with varying learning requirements, Goodna Special School was suffering from a serious lack of learning space across their entire campus. The school required a rapid uplift in classroom capacity to continue to provide a high quality education, and they required it to be delivered quickly and safely.

The Ausco team rose to the challenge, designing a solution that consisted of 15 modules, a mixture of learning spaces, bathroom facilities, staff lunch/office spaces and a covered, accessible outdoor deck area. All modules had to be delivered and moved into position during the limited time available in school holidays, which the team was able to successfully complete despite a number of technical challenges.

The increase in learning space led to an immediate improvement in learning outcomes for students, who have quickly made the facility their own with the addition of outdoor gardens and artwork.

The project is the perfect demonstration of Ausco’s commitment to creating spaces where people and communities thrive.

Ausco Adelaide Manufacturing: Bushland Rehabilitation

It was all hands on deck (or on dirt, in this case!) for Ausco’s Adelaide manufacturing team, with a contingent of 8 office and factory staff rolling up their sleeves to assist park volunteers at a local bushland recreation area.

The team spent the day getting their hands dirty, working on maintaining the gardens, working on pathways through the park and generally assisting the hard working local park staff to ensure that the area was looking perfect. Their work got the tick of approval and the park volunteers were incredibly appreciative for the assistance, especially considering the weather was less than ideal for the task.

The work done by the Adelaide team is just one of many examples of Ausco’s community volunteering program, which to date has allowed staff across the country to dedicate hundreds of hours toward important local projects to give back to the community. There have been great opportunities to build new connections and the program is continually expanding, giving more and more staff the freedom to spend some time working in their local area for some great initiatives.

Portacom Auckland: Mental Health Training

In April, the Portacom New Zealand team in Auckland were treated to an informational workplace mental health training session from MATES in Construction NZ .

16 staff in total across three Portacom sites completed the training, giving them the required skill set to be able to identify when coworkers, friends or family members require mental health support. They can then initiate assistance services as needed and ensure that the person needing support is in the right hands for recovery.

With the construction industry in New Zealand losing an average of 1 person every week due to suicide ,it is incredibly important to maintain and strengthen workplace connections to try and improve this somber statistic. The team are incredibly thankful for Portacom and MATEs’ partnership which aims to improve workplace connections and ensure that anyone who is struggling has access to the required support services before their condition deteriorates.

Early intervention is one of the best ways to tackle mental health issues, and the team are looking forward to more mental health training sessions in future.

Portacom Onehunga: World Environment Day Event

The Portacom service centre in Onehunga recently had their turn at hosting the team social event, and in the spirit of World Environment Day, the team hosted a 20 question sustainability quiz.

John Eastwood was crowned as the lucky winner coming out in front with 16/20 points, while Leon Du Toit was a close second scoring 15.5/20. The winners were generously rewarded with some litter gathering sticks, gloves and sanitary face masks!

It was a fun, light hearted way to talk about Environmental awareness, and everyone walked away from the social with some new knowledge