Mulwala’s old locomotive was the backdrop chosen for the munitions company’s General Manager Trevor Gunn to hand out cheques totaling $15,000 to various community groups.
The locomotive will get a much-needed lick of paint as part of an overall restoration project by the Mulwala Progress Association with the assistance of $1,000 from Thales. Other organisations and projects that received donations were; $3000 for Yarrawonga College P-12; $2,000 to Sacred Heart College; $1,500 to Sacred Heart Primary School; $1,500 to Mulwala Public School; $3,000 to The All Abilities Park; $1,500 to Friends in Common; and $1,500 towards Yarrawonga Mulwala Palliative Care.
“To acknowledge our employees’ efforts to maintain a safe work environment, we focus our sponsorship donation efforts on education, health and community services,” Mr Gunn said.
“We want to ensure we are active in our local community.
“Australian Munitions Mulwala is committed to ensuring we honour our employees’ dedication to safety and demonstrating our very real sense of obligation to our local community.
“Earlier this year we were able to provide a level of support to all four schools in the local area focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) within the education sector.”
Mr Gunn said the facility has recently achieved in excess of 700 lost time Injury (LTI) free days or over 1 million worked hours without an LTI.
“This can only be done with a knowledgeable and dedicated workforce,” he said.
“We provide these community support donations on behalf of every single employee working at our Mulwala site and we provide these donations as a small token of appreciation for the work they do in our local community.”
Palliative Care’s co-ordinator Chris Doyle spoke about how much the donation means to their group and how the money will be put towards an up and coming training program.
Kaitlyn Cummins said the donation was very much appreciated and that the community should see some progress in 2020 on the establishment of the All Abilities Park.
Sacred Heart College Principal Lew Nagle said the focus on STEM activities within the schools was having significant benefits and in the college’s case, being able to have students visit the facility made the classroom activities more worthwhile.
Mulwala Progress Association representative Helen Purtle said the donation has generated interest in restoring and making the Steam Train at Purtle Park safe. Mrs Purtle also outlined some short-term plans and activities towards the restoration involving other community groups (e.g. Lions Club).
Leon Porter said the Friends in Common relied on community support and the fundraising they conduct themselves and the donation from Australian Munitions also has a very positive impact on her group.