Successful Partnerships

Unilever & Learning Links Unilever has been working with Learning Links since 2003, when they partnered with us to develop the Reading For Life program. Beginning as a one-company employee volunteering opportunity designed to improve literacy outcomes for children who struggle to learn, Reading For Life has now grown to a Trans Tasman program, delivered by numerous companies and community groups in both Australia and New Zealand. To date, over 1500 children have graduated from this program.

In addition to their ongoing support and further development of the Reading For Life program, Unilever has also assisted Learning Links with Human Resource and Information Technology support and donations to fundraising activities and events.

Without the support of Unilever, Reading for Life would not have contributed so positively to children who are struggling to learn.  Unilever’s support has made a huge difference to Learning Links and we thank their wonderful staff for such an amazing contribution.

GlaxoSmithKline & Learning Links Learning Links has a very special relationship with the makers of Panadol, Macleans toothpaste, Ribena and Lucozade - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This wonderful support came about with the help of United Way Sydney.

GSK's support for the children and families of Sydney's western suburbs came at a time when we were seriously concerned about the future of this important branch.

GSK employ 1,500 people around Australia and produce a range of pharmaceutical and consumer health care products. They also help people with a range of illnesses including asthma and diabetes and produce many vaccines including those for tetanus and meningitis.

The company invests $25 million a year in Australia helping to develop new medicines and offer a range of awards, grants and fellowships that recognise and support work being undertaken by Australian doctors, pharmacists and researchers.

We are very grateful to GlaxoSmithKline for their wonderful support for children who have difficulty learning in Sydney's west.

IMC Pacific & Learning Links In 2004 IMC Pacific joined with Learning Links' Eastern Suburbs Branch to help children who have difficulty learning. Their donation and volunteer support has helped children who have difficulty learning from financially disadvantaged families access help they need.

The company's support has also extended to Christmas parties for the children and their families, a new sign for the branch and a letterbox drop to let families know we are in the Eastern Suburbs and may be able to help children struggling at school. We are very grateful to the staff of IMC Pacific for their wonderful support.

As a company, IMC Trading began life as a team of traders on the floor of the Amsterdam Exchange in 1989 and since then has expanded over the last 16 years to become a leading player in the European derivatives markets.

Inaugurated in 2002 as part of IMC's global vision, IMC Pacific has grown to become one of the leading derivatives market makers on the Australian Options Exchange (ASXO). Their professional and highly talented traders are active market participants in all major ASXO contracts and SFE futures and they are continually expanding to encompass other structured derivative trading products both in Australia and the Pan Asiatic region.

IMC Pacific are committed to becoming the number one derivatives market maker in Australia, and strongly believe that their emphasis on extensive and continual training, technical expertise and above all, quality personnel will enable them to achieve this goal.

Today, more than 150 employees worldwide are part of the IMC global team. To find out more about IMC Pacific just click on the IMC Pacific logo to go to their website.

Citigroup & Learning Links Citigroup's strong support for Learning Links started in 1999, with a grant to establish a new branch at Fairfield, in one of Sydney's most disadvantaged areas. Their support through a donation from The Citigroup Foundation continued until late 2002 to help the branch establish itself in Sydney's western suburbs.

During the three years of the Foundation's financial support, some of the staff of Citigroup became email buddies with children in classes at the branch; the children's paintings of their family homes were hung in Citigroup's Head Office in Sydney and three children's Christmas paintings were featured on Citigroup's corporate Christmas Card. The success of the partnership also led to the Citigroup and Learning Links winning the NSW Large Business section of the Prime Minister's Awards for Community and Business Partnerships.

Since late 2002, Citigroup has continued to support the children and families of Learning Links through staff and corporate donations. Learning Links is proud to have Citigroup as a supporter.

Scholastic Australia & Learning Links Since 2006, Learning Links has been partnering with Scholastic Australia to put books into the hands of disadvantaged children as a part of the ClassroomsCare program. This philanthropy-driven literacy campaign is designed to teach children about the joys and importance of reading and giving and has been greeted with great enthusiasm by teachers and students alike.

Each year, Australian classrooms are challenged to read 100 books. For each class that completes the challenge, Scholastic Book Clubs donates 100 books (for a total donation of up to 50 000 books per annum).

Learning Links is excited to be a partner to this program and has, to date, received approximately 14 000 new books to use in support of its work with children who have learning disabilities, difficulties and developmental delays.

The ClassroomsCare initiative is open to all classrooms Australia-wide through Scholastic Book Clubs. Teachers are sent a free ClassroomsCare participation kit, complete with a colourful poster to record classroom reading, as well as a take-home reproducible letter to get friends and family involved. Read more about ClassroomsCare and classroom testimonials at www.scholastic.com.au/ClassroomsCare

Now in its fortieth year, Scholastic Book Clubs provides twice-a-term catalogues offering Australian teachers top-quality books and reading materials from Australian and international publishers. Today, Scholastic Book Clubs reach over 100 000 teachers each month, providing the most sought-after titles at affordable prices for children in classrooms nationwide.

The Good Guys & Learning Links Living up to their name, The Good Guys have launched a unique community relations program that donates 20 cents from every transaction, raising much needs funds for local community groups such as Learning Links.

Funds are raised through 20 cent transactions, customer donations, fundraising events and employee contributions will go directly to each store's local Learning Links branch to specific projects such as Reading for Life, speech therapy and early childhood programs. The Good Guys strive to capture the hearts and minds of their customers and staff by providing an engaging and active community involvement opportunity.

The Good Guys National Cause program was launched in November 2006 and has already raised over $300,000 and is expected to generate over $750,000 in twelve months. The program is run in partnership with United Way, a national network of not-for-profit organisations that raises funds to support grassroots community projects.

You too can be a GOOD GUY by making a donation in store. All donations over $2 are fully tax deductible. Help them make difference, because it's simply good cents.

BizEd & Learning Links

BizEd staff chose Learning Links as a charity that they were keen to support in late 2003 and since then have regularly donated money their staff has raised at various morning teas and other functions. They also chose a number of Learning Links' children's paintings which were featured on their 2005 Christmas Calendar. The children were presented with their framed painting and some calendars at a special morning tea in their honour at BizEd's St Leonards' office.

BizEd also donated tables and stationery to help our branches at Fairfield, Miller and Peakhurst and is currently looking at support for our Reading for Life Program. We sincerely appreciate this wonderful support from this very generous company.

Established in 1998 and being vendor independent, BizEd Services is recognised as a leader and innovator in the Learning Services market.

BizEd specialises in managing the 'back office' and operational aspects of learning and development. By helping to maximise the impact and value of training and development activities, organisations can run more profitably and launch new ideas faster. You can click here to visit www.bized.com.au.

Write4fun & Learning Links Write4fun supports Learning Links by donating money from each book purchased. We'd like to thank write4fun for their generosity and for choosing the children and families of Learning Links as their beneficiary.