Our company vision is to make a difference; by igniting real change in the world. We do this through education (our passion) and by inspiring one student at a time, empowering them to shape their own world.
This is the motivation behind us launching our Igniting Real Change program in 2019. It is through this program we hope to give back to our community (near and far) in very real and meaningful ways.
Igniting Real Change begins with an individual.
By inspiring individuals, we hope to see communities changed.
Change enough communities, and we can change the world.
We developed three Igniting Real Change symbols to represent different aspects of change.
We strive to inspire people one at a time, whether that’s our students, our staff, or those we come in contact with. Through individual actions, communities are impacted, and through communities, we can change the world.
Each of our Igniting Real Change initiatives below respond to a need in one of these categories – impacting individuals, communities, or the world more broadly.
To kick-start our year of giving back and igniting real change in our community, we joined the Clean Up initiative for Sunday’s Clean Up Australia Day. CAL employees met at Mullum Mullum Creek to pick up rubbish around the creek and bike trail. It was inspiring to see all of the young children also in the group who were so motivated to do their part for the world, picking up the rubbish polluting our environment. “I enjoyed the day as it gave us all the opportunity to come together as a team and clean up a part of our community,” CAL team member Dave said. After a morning in the sun cleaning the creek bank and surrounding bushland, the group was rewarded with a delicious BBQ lunch.
Of all the rubbish picked up by the initiative’s volunteers over Australia, plastic makes up 31%, with 83% of reported plastics found in our waterways (Clean Up Australia).
CAL as a business is aiming to consciously reduce our office waste, both with increased efforts to recycle and purchase single use plastic items. It is with initiatives like Clean Up Australia Day that the importance of waste minimisation is emphasised, reminding us all that every day we need to Step Up, to Clean Up.
“I was pleasantly surprised at the community really getting involved, it didn’t take much out of the day, but with lots of hands I really feel like we made a difference.”
– CAL Learning Consultant Leigh
This summer (2019/2020) saw the devastating impact of the Australian bushfires, in communities across the country. We wanted to do what we could to come together, and help those in need.
A portion of all CAL’s enrolment fees from December 2019 and January 2020 enrolments went towards the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief, to assist those displaced by the bushfire crisis.
From the entire team here at CAL, we want to thank those who have supported others during these tough times. With the help of students, the CAL team have managed to raise over $5,500 for the Red Cross.
Coming together for a cause close to our hearts, we shared a delectable morning tea spread on Monday. As a group of pet lovers, it was incredibly important for us to get involved in raising funds and awareness to help animals in need.
RSPCA has raised almost $675,000 as they continue to achieve their goal to ‘rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome’ animals of all kinds. “I have always been an animal lover and admire the work the RSPCA do to prevent animal cruelty. I know that they cannot continue without the generous support of the community. I love that as a workplace we can come together to support an organisation like the RSPCA, especially over some delicious baked treats,” CAL team member Stephanie said.
The money raised by Australia not only supports the animal shelters, vet care and prevention of animal cruelty, but goes towards community education programs. These programs ensure that people receive the right knowledge about animal care.
“I think it’s important to donate to the RSPCA because they do such good work in their refuges where they look after and rehabilitate animals to be adopted. They also have services that help injured wildlife or attend to mistreated animals. After visiting our local RSPCA and feeling how sad the atmosphere was, you can see how much the animals rely on our support.”
– CAL team member Lauren
On what turned out to be a pleasantly warm morning, the CAL team assembled to take part in Australia’s National Tree Day. This initiative, championed by Planet Ark (in partnership with Toyota Australia), has sought the involvement of over 4 million volunteers since the first National Tree Day in 1996.
Banding together in teams of ‘diggers’, ‘planters’ and ‘plant protectors’, the CAL Team alongside other volunteers diligently planted 2,400 trees throughout the day. CAL also had some little helpers tag along to help out, who thoroughly enjoyed getting involved. “I love sharing these experiences with my daughter and teaching her the importance of taking care of our planet and the positive impact volunteering can have,” said Coach Lauren. Getting outside to get our hands into some soil and some sun on our face was rewarding enough, however seeing the finished parkland covered with new plants left everyone feeling well accomplished in their efforts.
“I had so much fun planting trees with my colleagues, I loved that we all worked as a team for such a great cause. It was really special to see at the end all of the trees we planted as a team! It also made me appreciate all of the trees that are planted around on my way home, to think someone has planted these with their own bare hands.”
– Steph, our Learning Consultant
“I love doing work that is practical and I believe has real impact on our environment and world,” our organiser, Learning and Development team member Emma, explained. Over 25 million trees have been planted across Australia on the previous 22 annual National Tree Days. One large, healthy tree can filter and remove up to 93kg of CO2 and 1.4kg of air pollution a year (Planet Ark).
The weather just held out for our group of walkers taking part in the MS Walk and Run – raising money and awareness for sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis. Our CAL Group had a great team that was thirteen strong, with three little ones along for the ride. Upon arrival, we got together and dressed up in our team gear to commence the beautiful walk around the lake at Albert Park. Before we knew it, we were at the finish line and being rewarded with a petting zoo!
“It was an incredible turnout and an encouraging sight to see so many fundraising for the cause. My sister was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, so this is a cause that’s very close to my heart – it’s so important that those diagnosed with MS get the support and resources they need to live their best lives, in spite of the disease. I’m proud to have been a part of that,”
– CAL team member Chloe.
Steve also enjoyed the day, “It was a nice Melbourne morning to get outside and go for a walk with the team and some of their families. MS is a cause close to my family as my mother-in-law has been a sufferer of MS for over ten years,” he explained. MS affects 25,600 Australians a year (MS Australia) and with no known cure, MS fundraising events raise money for research, awareness programs, and treatment and support services. The Walk and Run event brings together around 9000 people each year across Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Launceston. Giving up your morning to get outside, run or walk with a huge crowd in the fight against MS is a morning well spent – and an amazing way to feel a part of something bigger.
A fantastic team effort for CAL’s Biggest Morning Tea resulted in an abundance of delicious cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and homemade scones for a great morning on Thursday. With fundraising and gold coin donation at the door, CAL was proud to be a part of a national initiative for Cancer Council. “Morning tea brings people together, it facilitates chats and builds relations. This is a great added dimension to excellent tea and cakes.” said Michael, awarded the Best Baker for his freshly made scones.
“My donation was a token of my appreciation of the great work they do. I was delighted to participate in our workplace event and it was lovely to share some time with my colleagues. This cause is close to my heart because I lost a dear friend to cancer. I know every dollar counts in the fundraising efforts they do,”
– Coach Meagan on her contribution to the morning tea.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Australia, with 150,000 new diagnosed cases estimated to arise by 2020 (Cancer Council). The Biggest Morning Tea has been running for 26 years and has done an immense job of raising awareness, funds and bringing people together in support of cancer sufferers. To be involved and united in a strong community like the Morning Tea, can ultimately make a huge difference to others’ lives.
“It was great to be able to come together as a team and raise funds for such an important charity,” CAL team member Narelle mentioned. CAL’s Morning Tea raised $700 in contribution for Cancer Council.
Attending the CAL blood drive were seven eager (and slightly nervous!) team members giving up their time to donate. We had some staff who had never donated before, and others who donate on a regular basis – however by the end of the blood drive, we all felt privileged to be able to give, knowing it would change another’s life.
“For the last five years, I have been a volunteer with the Australian Red Cross Organisation to donate blood. When I was younger my parents encouraged and educated me on the importance of giving blood, it feels good to know that by doing something so little I can help so many in critical situations. Being able to give blood with CAL was a great experience in which I was able to donate with my colleagues and give back to the community.”
– Daisy, our Student Engagement Coach.
Only 1 out of 30 Australians donate blood each year, even though 1 in 3 Australians at some point, will need blood to save their life (Australian Red Cross). Donating blood is a small individual sacrifice to make with a life-changing result. We hope to contribute to a social movement of regular blood donation across Australia, as more donations are needed every day.
The MS Walk, Run + Roll went virtual this year to adapt in the lockdowns!
While we weren’t able to complete this event in person, the CAL team were unstoppable and we raised $913 towards the cause.
“Apart from wanting to support you, the husband of one of the girls I work with has MS (mid 30’s with 2 primary school aged kids) so I’m a big supporter. They’ve got him on a great medication which has helped heaps but initially it cost more than their mortgage to be on it – ridiculous – it has now been funded”
– Message recieved by CAL.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and often debilitating disease which attacks the central nervous system (the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves). It is the most common neurological disease in young adults and often attacks people at the time of their lives when they are planning families and building a career. As a team we were proud to come together virtually to raise money and awareness for a much needed cause.
In honour of the RSPCA Cupcake Day, we hosted a Virtual Bake-off on Monday 26th October! The challenge was to bake a tasty treat and upload a photo for your colleagues to vote for which baked treat was the best looking.
“We all know about the great work the RSPCA does to help end animal cruelty. We are all very fortunate here at CAL and proud to be supporting charities this year, the same as we would if we ran small fundraisers in the office. ”
-Lauren, CAL team member.
Everyone was drooling through their screens for Jenni’s cheesecake that was crowned our bake-off winner. After the votes were tallied, we successfully raised another $178 to fight animal cruelty.
November means it’s Movember time. Although most of us can’t grow a moustache to the same standard as some team members, we decided to raise awareness by getting creative and startingthe all new “Mo-tel CAL-ifornia”. We had many familiar looking visitors check in and stay throughout the month of November.
While we could not be together in person, that did not stop us and with CAL’s support as a team we raised $881.
“Movember, as well as being a fun campaign each year, is an incredible cause raising awareness and funders for men’s health issues (which really aren’t talked about enough) including mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. The stats must change.”
– AJ, CAL team member
Movember fundraisers are a global community of fired up Mo Bros and Mo Sisters – aka rock stars making a difference in mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Donations could help save a father, a brother, a son, a friend, a partner, a man’s life.
