Here’s a list of 15 fun facts about our Community Bank branches, that you may not have known!

1. We are owned and operated by a small company, Ku-ring-gai Financial Services Limited, and are a franchise of Bendigo Bank.  Locally owned, employing local people.
2.  We have given back $2 million to the community in the form of donations, grants, sponsorships and dividends since 2003.
3. Our Turramurra branch is the only full service bank in the suburb of Turramurra.
4. Our staff have an accumulated total of 164 years of banking experience between them – or an average of 13.7 years per staff member.
5. Together with the community we raised $20,750 for the farmers in the last two months.
6. We produced the Ku-ring-gai edition of Monopoly with 100% of profits being given to local charitable organisations.
7. Hero HQ – we matched dollar for dollar $100,000 raised in the community to outfit the newly built headquarters for the SES and RFS in 2013
8. One of our Turramurra customers bakes us a tin of sweet treats every week.
9. We provide friendly personalised service – we know our customers by name not by number.
10. Our staff can volunteer at any chosen charity or organisation one day each month providing hands on support to our community.
11. We have a defibrillator in each of our branches.
12. We were a founding sponsor of the Turramurra Lookout Community Garden.
13. Inside Out project – We partnered in the building of an interactive outdoor learning area at Turramurra High School in 2014
14. Our board in run by a group of highly skilled directors who volunteer their time.
15. Our branches recently were the subject of a film created by Studio ARTES 

From the moment the invitation arrived we knew this Ball would be like no other.

The invitation, designed by celebrated artist Nadia Lolas (a member of Studio ARTES), sets the scene for the upcoming ‘Travel through Time’ event, which will showcase the incredible talents of the members of Studio ARTES

Nadia has worked as an artist in residence at Historic Houses Trust, Erth Visual and Physical, Gaffa Gallery and The Paper Mill. In 2016 she undertook a mentorship with esteemed painter, Laura Jones, resulting in a three-panel triptych collaborative painting titled ‘The Secret Garden’. This painting now hangs in ING Direct in Sydney’s CBD. Nadia is one of many incredible artists from Studio ARTES – click through to see some of their wonderful work.

Back to the Ball… (or should I say Future!)

On Friday 28^th of September approximately 350 members, staff, family and friends of Studio ARTES will come together to celebrate the 18^th Annual Studio ARTES Ball which will be held at Hornsby RSL Showroom.

The event itself was started 18 years ago as a celebration of the Studio ARTES community. Eighteen years on, whilst still a celebration for family, friends and staff – you could almost describe the Annual Ball as a full-scale theatrical production – with original numbers from the music group, dance performances taking you through the decades and drama performances making you laugh so hard your sides hurt. This Annual Ball will feature full costumes, set designs and a production crew – it is not to be missed!

The team from Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches are thrilled to be able to sponsor this very special event for 2018. We’re looking forward to enjoying ourselves at the Ball, and will report back with more details about all the fun that was had in an upcoming community newsletter.

If you’d like to support Studio ARTES and attend the ball – you can book tickets here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Bendigo Bank – The Third Most Trusted Brand in Australia.

Building a trusted brand is important in any industry and market.

Important drivers of trust include reliability, customer focus, knowledgeable staff, ease of contact and previous good experiences with the company.

When the most recent Net Trust Score (NTS) results were published by Roy Morgan – naming Bendigo Bank as the third most trusted brand in Australia, we were rightfully very proud.

We work extremely hard to represent our philosophy and vision of being the ‘community’s bank’, our staff and management take great pride in knowing their customers, understanding their needs and being available to answer questions and offer advice at any time.

Thank you Australia for recognising our hard work to build your trust.

*For this survey, approximately 4,000 Australians, recruited from the Roy Morgan Single Source database, were asked which brands they trust and distrust between October 2017 and April 2018. Roy Morgan then took the trust score of each nominated brand and subtracted the distrust score. The result is a Net Trust Score (NTS).

On May 15 our 2018 Community Grants Program was finalised with a presentation evening held at our Lindfield branch.  We are proud to have been able to present nine incredible community organisations with grants totalling $35,670.  This year our selection process was particularly challenging with over 35 worthy groups applying for a community grant.

The Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank Branches (TLCBB) have, to date, given away more than $385,000 to various community groups and not-for profit organisations as part of our Community Grants initiative.

Reflecting on the impact that this successful program has made since its inception 10 years ago – we took a closer look at two of this year’s recipients and how they plan to utilise the community grant awarded to them.

MUM FOR MUM NCJWA

The Mum for Mum – National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA) was awarded a $5000 grant to assist in the training of volunteers.

Mum for Mum NCJWA is a confidential, non-denominational home-visiting program where trained volunteers, who are mothers themselves visit mentally vulnerable and isolated mothers once a week during the last trimester of their pregnancy, and for the first year of their baby’s life, in order to provide emotional support.

With changes in people’s living circumstances, many new mothers today are not living in close proximity to their families or the support networks that they grew up with. MUM FOR MUM aims to relieve isolation and reduce anxiety and depression, by creating a safe and caring space for mums to delight in their babies and develop secure attachment.

It costs $1400 a year to support each new mum in the Mum for Mum NCJWA program, with the organisation relying on donations and sponsorship to keep the program running. Programs such the Community Grants Program run by Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches play an important role in the success of Mum for Mum NCJWA, and we were thrilled to award a $5000 grant to assist in the training of new volunteers.

“I think it’s very inspiring that Bendigo Bank is so attuned to the local community and that they give so much back through their community grants which has a real impact on families in the community” commented Lyn Brand of Mum for Mum NCJWA.

Referrals to Mum for Mum come from Tresilian, the Family Referral Service, the Northern Centre, Catholicare, Gidget house, as well as from hospital social work teams and local GP’s – although a referral is not necessary.

If you know an expectant mother who could do with some emotional support throughout her 3^rd trimester and into the first year of her child’s life – don’t hesitate to contact the beautiful team at Mum for Mum NCJWA on 9363 0257

Or drop them an email: nadene@mumformum.org.au

ROTARY CLUB OF WAHROONGA

Also focusing on the changing demographic needs of our community is the Rotary Club of Wahroonga, who applied for a TLCBB community grant to help fund an important project at the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC.

With many young families moving into high-rise apartments in the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai area, there is a growing need for community spaces that support the needs of young families.

Wahroonga Rotary has provided substantial financial support to the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC over many years, which has included various fundraisers, annual dinners and donations for the police officers connected to the PCYC who work with troubled youth. So when the Wahroonga Rotary Board approved a commitment of $40,000 late last year for the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC, it was all hands on deck to raise funds again.

The Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches were pleased to be able to contribute $4,000 to this fantastic initiative. And, along with other contributors including a federal funding grant, and the support of other local Rotary Clubs such as Turramurra, St Ives, Ku-ring-gai, Carlingford, Lindfield, Berowra, West Pennant Hills & Cherrybrook the new fit-out of the Youth Hub at the PCYC Hornsby Ku-ring-gai was undertaken and the revamped centre opened on Sunday 27^th May.

“We thank Bendigo Bank for its contribution, and for its wonderful charitable work in the community.” Commented Sue Own – President of the Rotary Club of Wahroonga

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC – A Community Hub

The new PCYC has become a real community hub, especially for young mums with bubs and small children living in the surrounding area. With the District Nurse now operating out of the PCYC and the inclusion of a safe, contained soft play area, cubby house and full-service café – the PCYC has become a place for mums to meet, socialise and engage with others in community.

The Youth Hub within the PCYC is a space where older kids can be supervised and hang out safely. They can play table tennis, do homework, watch videos, and interact with each other.

A range of new equipment has also been purchased for the Junior Gymnastics Centre within the PCYC – which includes quite an extensive list of equipment as the centre caters for children from 18 months of age.

“The PCYC is a not for profit and must fundraise to keep the doors open so that we can continue to serve our community. This would be very difficult without the generosity of businesses such as the Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches.” Commented Peter Kirkwood – president Hornsby Ku-ring-gai PCYC.

Conducting programs such as the Community Grants Program gives all of us at The Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches insight into the astounding amount of work being driven by community groups within our local area.

These groups rely on donations from members of the public and businesses like ours.

Switch your banking – and help us to help the community.

By making a simple switch in your banking to Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches, you enable us to continue our mission of giving back to the local community.

If you do one thing to help the community this week – encourage your family and friends to bank with Bendigo and help your local community to continue the great work.

Living in beautiful leafy suburbs with access to visually stunning national parks and in such close proximity to open bushland is one of the many reasons we love Ku-ring-gai – but this magnificent beauty also poses a significant risk. Hazardous bush fires in the hotter months and then treacherous storm damage from fallen trees, act as potential life changing threats to our local area. It is for these reasons that our Ku-ring-gai SES and Bush Fire Brigade play such a vital role in our community.

There have been many bushfires throughout the local government area over the years and unfortunately houses have been lost. Ku-ring-gai is listed as one of the most vulnerable areas to bushfire in NSW, with over 122,000 residences in total and 14,000 of which are situated on the bushland interface.

The RFS usually undertake between 6-8 multi-agency Hazard Reductions each year (RFS, Council, NPWS, FRNWS) to reduce the fuel load in Ku-ring-gai, helping to reduce the likelihood and intensity of major wildfires. That work is done in-between deployments to other areas in need, most recently the large-scale effort in Blue Mountains and Lithgow.

Add to this the arduous task of clean up and emergency repairs that the SES perform under gruelling conditions during big storms that affect hundreds of residents and local businesses -the Ku-ring-gai SES and BFB members really are our local hero’s.

New SES and Bushfire HQ in Ku-ring-gai

With such important tasks at hand and our local community to protect, the Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches were pleased to jump onboard to drive a major fundraising campaign to help build a new HQ for our local hero’s back in 2013.

Prior to 2013 the local SES had been operating from unsatisfactory temporary facilities for several years; most of the time in an old council garbage collection shed in Gordon followed by time at an old council works depot in North Turramurra.

The new facility has provided both the Ku-ring-gai SES and BFB with state of the art Head Quarters that are the envy of many other rescue units in the state. The buildings now boast exceptional training facilities including state of the art audio visual technology, large well-equipped operations rooms, multi-level garage to house vehicles and equipment, and a comfortable outdoor area where members can relax after attending incidents, hazard reductions or training. The compound is secure and also provides enough space to cater to the large teams of volunteers and personnel during an emergency operation.

The most significant impact of the new HQ for our BFB and SES has been on the overall efficiency of the units and the ability to quickly respond to requests for assistance during storms or bushfires within the Ku-ring-gai community. Having the right facilities to store and service the multitude of equipment required by both divisions has made work so much more efficient.

Five Years On

May 25^th 2018 – marks five years since the opening of the new purpose built facility in Jubilee St, Hornsby. The monumental fundraising campaign dubbed “Hero HQ” spearheaded by the Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches to fit out the interior of the building is still very fresh in the memory of many within the community, particularly those from the rescue units themselves.

“The passion and support of the Community Bank staff to make the Hero HQ project a success needs to be acknowledged and recognised” commented Greg Rappo of the NSW State Emergency Service – Ku-Ring-Gai Unit, when asked about the upcoming anniversary.

Greg continued, “The support provided by the Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches was essential in helping to raise around $220,000  for the fit-out of the SES and KBFB facilities. Importantly the Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches provided a focus to help increase community awareness about the SES/KBFB and our new HQ – the Hero HQ campaign was an amazing success that put us on the front page of local newspapers and greatly increased the public profile of both our volunteer services”

The cost of rebuilding this modern facility to service both organisations was in the order of $2 million dollars.  Much of this funding was made available by the State Government, Ku-ring-gai Council, the SES and the NSW Rural Fire Service.  However, a shortfall in the order of $200,000 needed to provide a suitable internal fit-out of these two new buildings was what sparked the Turramurra and Lindfield Community Bank branches into action.  By directly engaging with the local Ku-ring-gai community and then matching funds raised by the community dollar-for-dollar, the local Community Bank branches were able to raise $220,000 and the internal fit-out was green lit to commence.

Five years on, this significant community effort will be remembered with a small celebration of members and family from the SES, probably cooking up a nice meal in the state of the art catering facilities within the HQ.

Remember – The Bush Fire Brigade and the SES rely on volunteers to continue smooth operation and service to our local community – If you want more information on how you can help our local hero’s contact:

SES: https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/get-involved/volunteer/

Bush Fire Brigade: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer