They’re racing - and we’re with them!

Newcrest’s Community Relations portfolio stretches far and wide, from support of sports carnivals in the desert and football games featuring Indigenous players at Subiaco Oval in curtain-raiser clashes prior to the Western Derby, to horse races, art exhibitions, contributions to service organisations, and educational scholarships.

Each July, Marble Bar hosts its annual Cup Race Day, and Newcrest now sponsors the meeting’s feature race, the Marble Bar Cup. Telfer’s Community Relations Superintendent Leon van Erp explained the rationale behind Newcrest’s wide-spread sponsorship and promotional activities.

“Newcrest is committed to assisting community groups in the region, where it can, because such support helps enrich the broad social fabric that exists within any group of people,” he said. “It is integral to our philosophy of being a socially-responsible organisation.

“We want to contribute something tangible to those people living in areas adjacent to or near our operations. We do that by investing our time, energy, expertise, and some funds into the communities.

“When we signed various agreements with Indigenous groups three years ago, we said we would provide support and opportunities for people to learn and train, with the goal of employing more Indigenous people to work at Telfer, or elsewhere in  the region. But, there’s more to life than just work, and support for a sports carnival or an art exhibition is equally valid.

“Successful communities are those that have received encouragement and support that has enabled them to offer a broad range of activities for their people.”