MATES Community Champions
About the Community Champions model
MATES Community Champions are organisations that provide their staff with flexible work arrangements to be able to mentor a student in the MATES program during business hours. Mentor meetings take one hour per fortnight for the duration of the school year, excluding school holidays.
There are two ways that an organisation can manage staff volunteering in the program:
1. Donating staff hours to the program.
2. Allowing staff to make up the time spent volunteering, outside their usual working hours.
The benefits
MATES has been shown to have significant positive impacts on participating students, including improved attendance at school, better mental health and increased confidence.
There are also many advantages to mentoring for this rewarding program.
For mentors:
- Access networking opportunities
- Gain work experience and learn new skills
- Increase your connection to the community
- Gain a sense of fulfillment from doing something meaningful
- Develop greater connections with colleagues
For employers:
- Strengthen your organisation’s public image and connection to the community
- Raise the profile of your organisation amongst prospective employees
- Increase the job satisfaction of your staff
- Improve employee confidence, self-esteem and morale
- Strengthen your organisation’s internal culture
- Gain business promotion through CGLLEN networks (newsletters, website, social media and annual advertisement)
Our MATES Community Champions:
East Grampians Health Service is based in Ararat and Willaura and is committed to providing quality care and services that meet the needs of the community, whilst continuously striving for improvement and aiming to lead the way in provision of health related services.
The organisation became our very first MATES Community Champions' workplace in May 2023.
Grampians Comunity Health provides a broad range of primary health care, therapeutic and community support services in the Pyrenees, Grampians and Wimmera Southern Mallee. The organisation has office sites in Stawell, Ararat, Horsham, St Arnaud, Warracknabeal, Hamilton and Maryborough, as well as visiting services right across the Grampians and Wimmera townships.
GCH has been a MATES Community Champion since June 2023.
Find out more
For further details, or to express your interest in becoming a MATES Community Champions’ workplace, please contact our MATES Coordinator.
Phone: 03 5352 3266
Mobile: 0432 204 840
Email: mates@cgllen.org.au