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The Venko team want to be a voice for change. We continue to challenge ourselves to demonstrate the respect and pride deserving of the world’s oldest continuing living culture.
Change for Venko starts with education. In 2023 we established the Venko Voice working group to lead our strategic plan for sharing & elevating our collective knowledge about our First Nations Peoples. The Venko Voice are about to embark on developing our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.
As designers who create with the intention to shape spaces that build community and belonging, we look to our First Nation’s People’s deep connection to Country and sense of ‘place’ as a source of knowledge and unique perspective. While weaving Aboriginal naming & visual arts into our interior environments is a growing aspect of our work, we aim to develop our creative process to move beyond visual representation & cultural inclusivity. We have access to a culture of storytelling that spans more than 60,000 years to learn from, one that can enrich and strengthen our work and influence our understanding of what it means to create spaces that elevate the human experience.
We recognised that one of the barriers to reuse and repurposing of furniture in our industry is awareness between ‘those who have’ and ‘those who need’. The Waste Not initiative approaches community groups and charities to list them on our growing database so that we are able to understand their needs and connect them with the right clients at the appropriate time. The Waste Not initiative allows Venko & our clients to ethically & sustainable remove and repurpose existing furniture, fittings & equipment that would otherwise go to landfill.
Some of the beneficiaries supported by Waste Not are Whittlesea Food Collective, Wollert Community Farm, Whittlesea Community Connections, Mernda Community House, Youth Projects, Brainwaves & the Bionics Institute.
The Waste Not initiative allows us to facilitate; community engagement, reduce environmental impact & provide opportunities for the disadvantaged.
Venko are committed to giving back to our community. We support Redkite charity because of the impact they have in creating a better tomorrow. Cancer touches all of our lives in some way and it is our hope to see a day when this is no longer our reality. Redkite gives families the strength they need to face childhood cancer. As Australia’s leading childhood cancer support charity, Redkite provides families with access to free practical, emotional and financial report.
Redkite do not receive government funding and while Venko, and other business sponsors, make regular financial contributions to the charity, it is the generosity of our time & participation in fundraising activities, that are the most valuable ways we can provide our support. Tina Berardi, Venko’s Director, draws on Venko’s industry network to drive fundraising. Tina gives her personal time as a regional council member working with Redkite leadership to ensure their future as Australia’s leading cancer support charity.
The Venko team love a challenge (we might be just a little bit competitive) and have smashed through 50 crunches a day in Crunch4Kids and walked, cycled and run at sunrise in the Sun Up Challenge throughout the years, supporting Redkite in their fundraising initiatives.
The Redkite Quiz is a much-loved event for our team and the premier fundraising event for the charity. While the event is a riot of laughs and brings out our competitive nature, along with some big hitting bidders in the silent auction, it’s also a chance for us to hear stories from the families we have helped support, a reminder of why we come together as a team and our power to create a better future for everyone.
Venko gather on Wurundjeri Country. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.