Community

Throughout the year Toll has again continued to be a major supporter of The First Step and Second Step Programs.

First Step

Toll has for many years now been a source of core financial, administrative and IT support for The First Step Program. The First Step Program is a pioneering not-for-profit organisation that is at the forefront of providing comprehensive, innovative and compassionate approaches to overcoming drug and alcohol addiction in St Kilda, Melbourne.

Drug or alcohol dependence is a debilitating illness that touches people from every part of Australian society. The effects of long-term addiction are felt not only by the individual, but also by their children, parents, friends and indeed by society at large.

First Step's dedicated team of experienced addiction medical professionals offer a range of services for recovering addicts, including:

• Medical assessment and a range of medical interventions
• Mental health nursing
• Hepatitis C treatment programs

In addition to helping drug users live without their dependency through a range of treatments including the Naltrexone treatment, The First Step Program builds a support offering around each individual giving them access to whatever additional support they may need. This includes mental health care, support with domestic arrangements and even access to legal support should it be required.

Since Toll began working with First Step' the clinic has grown in staff size, clients cared for and the range of services provided. In the past seven years, the clinic has treated over 6,000 patients. In the last twelve months alone, close to 1,600 people have been assisted through this centre.

Interaction between The First Step Program and Toll's Second Step employment program has continued to develop. The possibility for First Step clients to become candidates for Toll's Second Step employment program continues, as does the avenue for legal and medical services to be provided to Second Steppers.

Second Step

The Second Step employment program continues to offer a supported employment opportunity with Toll for people whose employment prospects are limited as a result of a history of addiction or criminal offences.

Toll's Second Step is a program started by Mr Paul Little AO who remains a passionate supporter. The program now offers 30 positions a year throughout Australia in a variety of supported and mentored employment positions. The pleasing statistic is that the majority of our Second Steppers are offered full time positions at the end of their initial 12 months supported placement. This is testimony to the success of the program.

Second Steppers – both First Step candidates and those who are recommended to us through our other partner programs (Whitelion, Port Philip Prison Youth Unit, Melbourne City Mission, Brisbane City Council and The McKillop Foundation) have benefited from the services made available to them through First Step and St Vincents Hospital.

We are also in discussion with a number of agencies both in Australia and in other countries to establish the program throughout the Toll Group globally and hope to report back with further growth opportunities in the year ahead.

To date Toll has helped over 240 people get their lives back on track and maintain satisfying and rewarding employment.

Our hope is that Toll’s leading role in these initiatives will encourage other corporates to be involved in supporting people dealing with what would otherwise be insurmountable problems.

Other Community Programs

The Group features its involvement with some of our initiatives in our quarterly magazine, Toll Today, which can be accessed via our website at www.tollgroup.com under Toll Group Newsletter.

It is however, not possible to fully describe the broad spectrum of the community and charitable contributions made by Toll businesses globally or the supportive and devoted employees across the globe who donate countless hours of volunteer work to their local efforts.

Toll actively supports and encourages these efforts through our Community Policy and is proud to assist our employees with their contributions to the organisations and activities they support.

Of the many activities undertaken, the following are representative of the valued contribution by many:

Annual Toll Charity Golf Classics

The Australian annual Toll Charity Golf Classic was held on 31 July 2009 at the Gold Coast and supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation which helps young people with life-threatening medical conditions live their dreams. Since supporting the foundation, the Toll Group has donated in excess of $250,000.

Other Golf classics were also held in Singapore which raised SGD15,000 for the “Mainly I Love Kids” charity which supports under-privileged children and young people in Singapore, and in the Philippines where Toll assisted in a golf tournament raising over USD48,000 to support children who wish to further their education and attend university in their country.

Even local Australian businesses combine annual golf days and weekly BBQs to support causes such as the McGuiness McDermott Foundation which supports children with cancer at the Adelaide women’s and children’s hospitals. With a combination of the regular BBQs and the annual Toll golf day in South Australia, Toll SPD has been able to donate A$23,000 to the cause this year.

Haiti Earthquake

Following the devastating Haiti earthquake on 12 January 2010, Toll’s specialist international project management arm, Toll Remote Logistics, deployed a rapid response team to help coordinate and manage international relief efforts. The team supported the evacuation of over 1,200 Haitians to safety as well as other valuable transportation services to community organisations throughout the world.

Logistics services

The provision of transportation and logistics services is a common thread throughout our businesses to support global, regional and local causes, whether they are responding to an international crisis or local charity needs:

During the year, these have included supporting:

• Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon;
• The Western Australian City to Surf challenge;
• Transporting an aircraft lift from Tasmania to Groote Eylandt to enable wheel-chair bound locals access to aeroplanes that provide their only link from the remote community to the mainland;
• Shipments for a variety of charities including the Australian Red Cross – Northern Territory division, RSPCA and St John Ambulance Australia, as well as many local Northern Territory schools, community Groups and churches;
• Assisted in the distribution of products for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's "Jelly Baby" fundraising events;
• Providing shipping services to deliver solar panels to a Kenyan orphanage, relocating 50,000 donated books to their new library home and delivering a piano for a music school;
• Delivering goods to Samoa to aid in the relief following the Tsunami;
• Delivering goods for Cyclone Relief in the Cook Islands;
• Distribution of merchandise to support SIDS and Kids - Red Nose Day;
• Services to support Convoy for Kids which assists the welfare of sick or disabled children across the Asian region;
• Move equipment and spare parts to support the Chain Reaction Bike Ride which raises funds to support the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation;
• Distribution services for "Distraction Boxes" used to assist TLC for Kids in the treatment of children in hospitals across Australia.

Toll also continued its lead role assisting Foodbank Australia in receiving food donations from food and grocery companies, and managed the distribution to over 1,500 accredited welfare agencies around Australia. The program helps to feed over 20,000 Australians daily and is supported by three of our key operating divisions.

Through our presence in the Northern Territory, Toll invests time and resources in the development and well-being of Indigenous communities in the region. In particular, the Group supports the AFL Northern Territory with a particular focus on using football to develop young people and is heavily involved in the educational and business networks in the area supporting the NT Young Achiever Awards, NT Export Awards, Rotary Club of Darwin North and Nhulunbuy, Alyangula Area School, NT Chamber of Commerce and 8Ear Community radio in Nhulunbuy. Toll also provides sponsorship of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra.

Surf Life Saving

The Group continues to value its association with the Surf Life Saving through its support of the Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club, Altona Surf Life Saving Club and North Cronulla SLSC.

The team supports the excellent work of the Surf Life Saving Clubs in Victoria and in New South Wales with donations of cash to support community events and purchase lifesavers’ uniforms.