Latest recipients of Aurizon's Community Giving Fund announced

Today, Aurizon announced the recipients for the latest round of its Community Giving Fund.

Managing Director & CEO Andrew Harding said the Giving Fund enables Aurizon and its people to give back to the local communities in which they live and work.

"All recipients are delivering meaningful projects in their respective communities and we are delighted to be able to support them in their fantastic efforts through our grants. Demand for many services provided by these organisations continues to grow especially with the additional challenges presented by COVID-19," he said

"This recent round of assistance will see 23 local projects benefit from the funding in the areas of education, community safety, environment, and health & wellbeing.

"We are delighted to be able to support the important work that these local charities do in our area of operations," he added.

Mr Harding said the 23 projects were spread across Aurizon's national footprint with the majority in regional areas of Australia where more than 85% of Aurizon's employees live and work.

"In Central Queensland for example, Gladstone Women's Health Centre will use the funding towards the opening of new premises as it looks to expand its free counselling and community education services," he said.

"In Western Australia, The Broome Aboriginal Media Association (Aboriginal Corporation) will utilise the funding to employ a Community Support Officer to deliver their Goldfields Girl program. This program is designed to increase the capacity of young Indigenous women through formal and informal training opportunities enabling them to obtain valid and meaningful employment.

"St John Ambulance Western Australia will purchase a Mangar Elk emergency lifting device that will allow them to safely lift a fallen person off the floor, reducing the risk of injury associated for patients and crew with manual handling. The device can also be used in restricted or remote locations where other equipment is impractical or unavailable.

"Sunnyfield, in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, will receive funding to purchase a SmartBoard (interactive white board) that will be used to deliver their Skills for Life Program, to people with an intellectual disability in Maitland. The modules delivered teach participants numeracy, literacy, cooking, and road safety skills.

"Each and every year we get so many worthwhile projects submitted for consideration. I would like to thank each and every one of those community groups for the time and effort they took to apply."