On Tuesday 8 March 2016, 38 Australian Financial Risk Management (AFRM) staff members took part in a volunteer day at four Mai-Wel shared living homes in Maitland, which are for people living with a disability. The volunteers installed garden beds and provided gardening services to the homes, as well as meeting and interacting with some of the residents.

AFRM arranged this as part of their annual staff retreat, where employees from across Australia come together to learn and relax, and also to give something back to the community.

“Rather than run a typical work team-building day, we thought it would be a much more worthwhile experience to do something useful for a local organisation,” AFRM Director, Mark Hoskin, said. “It was a privilege for us to provide a little help towards the outstanding service Mai-Wel provides for people with disabilities.”

Mai-Wel CEO, Pennie Kearney, said she was delighted that AFRM chose The Mai-Wel Group as their charity of choice.

“We value the time, skills and experience that volunteers share with our participants and staff. By volunteering, the AFRM staff were able to have fun, learn new skills, share their valuable expertise, meet new people and feel they are contributing in such a way that brings value to them and the person with a disability,” Pennie said. “It was also a fantastic team building opportunity for the staff who got to roll up their sleeves and truly make a difference in the lives of our residents with a disability.”

The Mai-Wel Group is one of the larger disability service providers in the lower Hunter region, providing services and programs to more than 900 people with a disability across nine Local Government Areas.

Image | Nick Hatherly, Mai-Wel CEO Pennie Kearney and Director AFRM Mark Hoskin