Beehive Industries 50th Anniversary

Beehive Industries 50th Anniversary

50 TH ANNIVERSARY BEEHIVE INDUSTRIES 1971 - 2021 Celebrating our 50 year community support partnership with the City of Sydney

First published in 2021 by BEEHIVE INDUSTRIES

BEEHIVE INDUSTRIES 137 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 (+612) 9331 4085 www.beehiveindustries.com.au CEO: Brendan Lonergan DESIGNER: Testpilot Design Editor: Dr. Elena Lonergan Additional Design Layout: David Peters

HISTORICAL RESEARCH CONTENT EDITOR: Dr. Tania Sweeney

Our Patron: Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW

Current Board Directors: Gerard Johnston Andrea Plawutsky Robert McDonnell Peter Mackey

Adrienne Revai Jason Penrose Dr. Phoebe Holt

Copyright © Beehive Industries, 2021

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Beehive Industries.

Proudly printed by Beehive Industries, Sydney on the Konica Minolta Accurio Press C3080.

From its origins in a corner of the Queen Victoria Building to an Ultimo location and to Darlinghurst, the City helped with accommodation and funding and the organisation went from strength to strength. Even when a devastating fire forced it to restrict operations, Beehive has continued to serve its community. Beehive members can have access to work, to help with employment preparation, social activities and health programs, including daily meals. It helps keep our City a welcoming and inclusive place where everyone can feel valued and part of our community. On behalf of the City of Sydney, I wish the Co- operative and ‘Beehivers’ all the best with your future endeavours. Congratulations to everyone who has built Beehive over the past fifty years – the staff, the volunteers and all the members. Well done, all of you. Yours sincerely The anniversary lunch and eBook sound like wonderful ways to mark this sig for ‘Beehivers’ to celebrate everything the Co-operative has achieved over th sure everyone attending will have a wonderful time at the lunch. On behalf of the City of Sydney, I wish the Co-operative and ‘Beehivers’ all t endeavours. Yours sinc rely The anniversary lunch and eBook sound like wonderful ways to mark this sig for ‘Beehivers’ to celebrate everything the Co-operative has achieved over th sure v ryone attending will have a wonderful time t the lunch. On behalf of the City of Sydney, I wish Co-ope ative and ‘Beehivers’ all t endeavours. Yours sincerely including through our Accommodation Grant Program in recent years. Message of Support On the occasion of your 45th anniversary, I congratulate staff and members operative on reaching this significant milestone. Since 1971, the Co-operative has provided a socially inclusive environment, people with a disability can come toget er, socialise, and work productively c mmend taff and volunteers, past and pr sent, on your tireless efforts to k running and to provide new opportunities and projects for participants. I am proud of the City of Sydney’s long associ tion with the Co-operative. A Council’s first female Alderman, Joan Pilone conceived the idea after extens and the benefits of volunteer community work. Si e that time, the Co-opera thrive, and the City has been pleased to provide support, including through o Program in recent years. The anniversary lunch and eBook sound like wonderful ways to mark this significant milestone, and for ‘Beehivers’ to celebrate everything the Co- operative has achieved over the past 45 years. I am sure everyone attending will have a wonderful time at the lunch. The anniversary lunch and eBook sound like wonderful ways to m rk this significant milestone, and for ‘Beehivers’ to c lebrate every hing the Co- operativ as chieved over the pas 45 years. I am sure everyone atten ing will ave a wond rful time at the lunch. On behalf of the City of Sydney, I wish the Co- operative and ‘Beehivers’ all the best with your future endeavours. Si ce 1971, the Co-operative has provided a socially inclusive environment, people with a disability can come toget er, so ialise, and work productiv ly f commend staff and volu teers, past and pr sent, on y ur tireless effor s to k runni g and to provide n w opportunities and projects fo participants. I am proud of the City of Sydney’s long association with the Co-operative. As Council’s first female Alderman, Joan Pilone conceived the idea after extens and the benefits of volunteer community work. Since that time, the Co-opera thrive, and the City has been pleased to provide support, including through o Program in recent y ars. including through our Accommodation Grant Pr g am in recent years. Message of Support On the occasion of your 45th anniversary, I congratulate staff and members op rative on reachin this sig ificant milestone. Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney Yours sincerely

On behalf of the City of Sydney, I want to offer my warmest congratulations to the staff, the volunteers and the members of Beehive who have brought this organisation to its 50th anniversary. I wonder if Joan Pilone, the Council’s first female alderman who conceived the idea, ever imagined how successfully it would grow and flourish and that, 50 years on, it would still be playing such a vital role in our City. She had imagined such an organisation after extensive research into retirees and the benefits of volunteer community work, and steered the City to help establish and support the organisation. Fifty years later, we remain a staunch supporter of all you do. Beehive lives up to its name, creating an inclusive environment where older people and people with a disability can socialise and work together for a common purpose. It helps people stay healthy, active and connected. I am proud of the City of Sydney’s long association with the Co-operative. As many of you know, Council’s first female Alderman, Joan Pilone con eived the idea after extensive esearch into retirees and the benefits of volunteer community work. Since that Since 1971, the Co-operative has provided a socially inclusive environment, w ere older people and people with a disability can come t g ther, socialise, and work productively for a common purpose. I commend staff and volunteers, past and present, on your tireless efforts to keep the Co-operative running and to provide new opportunities and projects for participants. time, the Co-operative has continued to thrive, and the City has been pleased to provide support, time, the Co-operative has continued to thrive, and the City has been pleased to provide support, On the occasion of your 45th anniversary, I congratulate staff and members of Beehive Industries Co-operative on reaching this significant milestone. Since 1971, the Co-operative has provided a socially inclusive environment, where older people and people with a disability can come together, socialise, and work productively for a common purpose. I commend staff and volunteers, past and present, on your tireless efforts to keep the Co-operative running and to provide new opportunities and projects for participants. On the occasion of your 45th anniversary, I congratulate staff and members of Beehive Ind stri Co-operative on reaching this significa t milestone. I am proud of the Ci y of Sydney’s long association with the Co-operative. As many of you know, Council’s fir t female Alderman, Joan Pi one conceived the idea after extensive research into retirees and the benefits of volunteer community work. Since that

Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney

Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney

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Introduction from our Board Chair Gerard Johnston As Chair of the present Board of Beehive Industries, I sincerely wish to express the absolute pride and delight felt by each of our seven Directors in having the honour to over-see this truly significant 50th Anniversary of operations milestone - for our benchmark City of Sydney social enterprise - serving those in need in our broader community. This Commemorative 50th Anniversary dossier documents the various ups-and-downs that have come Beehive’s way since 1971. It is appropriate to recognise that only the can-do spirit of many individuals within our community has kept our enterprise alive, and thriving. Beehive Industries started with visionary elected representatives, and gained momentum over time through the sacrifices and selfless contributions from various civic-minded management and administrative personnel marshalling their collective talents and resources to grow and continuously improve our social-business operations. With ever-decreasing government funding, Beehive Industries remains sustainable, five days a week, providing a quality, purpose-in-life ethos to those most socially-isolated Beehivers. Within an increasingly competitive and changing environment, it delivers quality service and products to its corporate clients. The recent global pandemic has been a testament to this. Our doors have remained open to client businesses throughout - due to the over-and-above efforts by management and staff. I sincerely thank our CEO Brendan Lonergan, my fellow Directors one and all, through any number of Zoom encounters, throughout this most challenging of times. All the very best to Beehive Industries for the next 50 years.

Gerard Johnston Chairman

A message from our CEO Brendan Lonergan It is an absolute pleasure to be able to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

It is also wonderful to be able to acknowledge the continued support of the City of Sydney. The council was responsible for conceiving the idea to found Beehive Industries, way back in 1969, and providing the funding and premises to allow us to commence operations in March 1971. This patronage and support have continued over the following 50 years, bringing us to the Beehive Industries we have today. Over that period we have faced some big challenges, including a major fire in 1985 that saw our centre close for nearly a year. There was the subsequent rebuild in 1986, the financial turbulence of the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008, and more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. During the 50 years it has been in existence, Beehive has supported thousands of seniors, unemployed persons and persons with disability. We have been ably assisted by many loyal and dedicated staff, including long-serving former CEOs Barbara Davies and Kay Saunderson, production manager Ann O’Mahony and supervisor Peter Winters, along with our dedicated board members, including former chair Noel Reidy and our founding chair, Alderman Joan Pilone. I am proud to say that at Beehive, we have continued to adapt and expand the services we offer and we strive to find new ways in which we can support the seniors, persons with disability and long-term unemployed people whom we assist. We couldn’t have done all of this without the support of the City of Sydney and we look forward to working together in the decades ahead.

Brendan Lonergan Chief Executive Officer

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A History of Beehive Industries Goal of “Contentment of mind and physical well being” for elderly people Beehive Industries evolved from the Council of the City of Sydney’s desire to find new ways to support retired and elderly people living in the municipality. Until 1970, the council had a practice of providing Christmas financial relief to each widowed and invalid pensioner living within the boundaries of the City of Sydney. By 1969 the number of people receiving such relief from the council had grown to 19,000. In 1969 the council undertook research into alternative ways to support retired people in the municipality. This included a reviewing of the option of providing pensioners and the elderly with suitable employment.

Members of the Consultative Committee, City of Sydney, 1969 Dr. Sidney Sax Director of the Division of Health Research and Planning, NSW Public Health Department Mrs. Averil Fink NSW Council on the Ageing R. A. Brooks Marden Hospital, President, Sheltered Workshops Association Dr. G. C. Hughes Director of Geriatrics, NSW Public Health Department Mrs. N. Brady Australian Jewish Welfare Society Miss Catherine Bowen Senior Social Worker, Sydney City Council F. J. Darling Employers’ Federation of NSW A. Bayvel Sydney Public Relations Consultant N. Mason Chamber of Manufacturers, NSW Department of Labour and Industry

As part of this review, the council’s Community Services Committee established a consultative committee, recognising “…the need to examine the question of occupation for seniors and pensioners, the primary objective being to find ways and means of providing mental and physical stimulation, and thus contentment of mind and physical well being.” One of the tasks of the consultative committee was to visit various community organisations which were already providing employment of this nature – organisations whose names sound jarring to our ears in 2021, such as the Civilian Maimed and Limbless Association and Aid Retarded Persons NSW. It was recognised that the issue of gifts and donations to pensioners was “alien” to the goal of pensioner independence. Council’s new strategy for supporting pensioners In the last quarter of 1969 the council decided to implement a twofold strategy to support pensioners living in the City of Sydney. The first element of the strategy was to provide Christmas relief to aged, widowed and invalid pensioners residing within the City of Sydney area, to be paid by way of a grant to charitable organisations. In 1970 these organisations were the Smith Family, St Vincent de Paul, Salvation Army and Matthew Talbot Hostel, which each received a grant of $2,500 from the council to further their work with pensioners within the City of Sydney community. The second element of the strategy was to establish mini-workshops, so that pensioners could work to produce goods and services as a means of utilising their spare time and to supplement their income. After consideration by the council’s Community Services Committee (chaired by Alderman Joan Pilone), City of Sydney Council adopted the new strategy, resolving on 17 November 1969 to establish mini-workshops at welfare centres to augment the income of pensioners.

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July/August 1970

Above: Article written by Alderman Joan Pilone detailing plans for a Senior Citizens’ Activities Centre, pseudonym “Operation Beehive” to be situated in or around the City of Sydney area

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A photo of Joan’s original share application

Our first lot of Beehive Industries Board Member shares were allocated to Alderman Joan Pilone

The Sun, 21 October 1970

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1970 - Plan to establish a senior citizens activities centre On 12 November 1970, the council resolved to “set aside the sum of $50,000 for the purpose of establishing a Senior Citizens Activities Centre(s) for the purpose of assisting aged

pensioners and others to augment their income”. They also approved the appointment of a supervisor.

Daily Telegraph article from 1970 detailing the Lord Mayor of Sydney officially announcing the council’s decision to set up Senior Citizens Activity Centres Daily Telegraph, 27 July 1970

1971 - Beehive Industries established at temporary premises in the Queen Victoria Building

Daily Mirror, 30 January 1971

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Instead of having mini-workshops at a number of welfare centres, it was decided to centralise activities and have a larger workshop at one centre. This strategy had the benefits of reduced overheads, improved efficiency, enhanced security control and availability of storage for bulky goods. There was also the advantage that having one central workshop instead of a number of them at particular welfare centres would reduce the possibility of resentment among those service users who attended an activity centre that had not been funded for a workshop.

Sydney Morning Herald, 2 February 1971

Sydney Morning Herald, 13 March 1971

Sydney Morning Herald article on the opening of Beehive Industries

Premises for Beehive Industries A council report from May 1971 describes the allocation of a temporary space for the workshop on the ground floor of the Market Street end of Queen Victoria Building. This space was to be occupied while the proposed permanent premises on the second floor at 33 Mountain St Ultimo were being renovated. (The first floor of the building was already being leased.) The move of the workshop into this temporary space in the Queen Victoria Building was delayed because of its use by the previous tenants - the Papal Visit Citizens Welcome Committee.

Left: Daily Telegraph article on the opening of Beehive Industries. Below: Mr. Charles Roche & Mrs. Joyce Johnston (in the back row) with Mr. Frank Reynolds & Mrs. Lyle Lloyd in the Beehive workroom.

Daily Telegraph, 18 March 1971

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Legal status and name of new entity The May 1971 council report outlines the need for a decision on the legal entity for the enterprise. There were no provisions under the Local Government Act for council to operate a trading organisation. The options seemed to be a company by guarantee or a co-operative. At that time, the Civilian Maimed and Limbless Association operated a sheltered workshop as a co-operative. Ultimately, City of Sydney Council used this association’s co-operative rules (and the co-operative Model Rules) as a basis for the rules for Beehive Industries Co- operative. The name “Beehive” had been suggested as the name for the new enterprise by members of one of the city’s welfare centres. Incorporation and appointment of directors An inaugural meeting was held in February 1970. Following this, Beehive Industries Co-operative Limited was incorporated as a Community Advancement Society under the Co-operation Act on 5 March 1971. A board of directors was appointed. The May 1971 council report notes that the directors requested an additional $5,000 for operating expenses until the new enterprise managed to attract sufficient work.

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD OF BEEHIVE INDUSTRIES CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED, MARCH 1971 Alderman Pilone (Chair)

Alderman Lewis Alderman Owen Mr. Springer Controller, Parks and Recreation Mr. O’Dea City Treasurer Miss Marsh Pensioner, Kings Cross Welfare Centre Mr. Jessen Pensioner, Moore Park Centre

Work conditions and worker profile in May 1971

Workers at Beehive Industries had to be pensioners and had to abide by the specified conditions. Each worker could work a maximum of four days per week. Each half day was to be three and a half hours, for which the worker was to be paid $2.00, to a maximum total pay of $8.00 per week. In May 1971, Beehive’s capacity was 30 workers. The ratio of men to women was two to one and there were 30 people on the waiting list. According to records from 1972, some 22 additional pensioners registered for work during the preceding 14 months.

Above/left: Elderly workers packaging fiction books when Beehive was located in the QVB

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1971 - Move to Ultimo An initial proposal was to relocate the enterprise from its temporary location in the Queen Victoria Building to new premises on the second floor at 33 Mountain Street Ultimo. Negotiations with the existing tenant to vacate the ground floor of the Mountain Street building had been unsuccessful. It was recognised that the second floor premises were not ideal, given that the workers were pensioners and elderly. Taking the proposed premises would have involved a cost of over $36,000, which included the cost of converting a goods lift to a passenger lift to convey workers to the second floor. Selection of premises in Bay Street, Ultimo Given the difficulties posed by the Mountain Street premises, on 2 August 1971 council approved the selection and renovation of premises at 32 Bay Street, Ultimo. The Bay Street premises solved the problem of access for elderly workers and could also be brought to the required standard for a lower cost of just over $28,000. Beehive Industries took up occupancy at the end of 1971. The rental and furnishings were charged at $10 per calendar month. 1973 - Registration as a sheltered workshop The federal government had recognised Beehive as a potential recipient of government funding in 1971 and had promised financial assistance. In 1973 the federal government advised that it had received registration of Beehive Cooperative Industries as a sheltered workshop under the relevant Act. (The Sheltered Employment (Assistance) Act 1967 was later replaced by the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act 1974.) Beehive Industries (WA) was inaugurated in Perth, Western Australia, in 1973.

Early news article about Beehive Industries Operations in Bay Street, Ultimo

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1974 - Need for a larger work area As part of a review of its strategic plan, City of Sydney Council developed an action study, Community Services Interim Report 1973-74, which found that the 2,100 square feet of space at Bay Street was inadequate to meet Beehive’s needs. Around 30 pensioners were employed at any one time and 80 over the course of a week. Council concluded that a larger work area was needed to allow Beehive to become increasingly self-supporting. Preference for new premises on the eastern side of the city It was recommended that any new site should be located on the eastern side of the city, as seventy per cent of pensioners working for Beehive at the Bay Street premises came from the areas of Kings Cross, Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills. New premises approved for Palmer Street, East Sydney Further studies were undertaken in 1974 regarding the future of Beehive Industries. As a result, in July 1974 council approved the establishment of an additional workshop for Beehive, to be located on the ground floor of 137-155 Palmer Street, East Sydney. Over $72,000 was allocated by council for renovations. Council also applied for a grant under the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act for just over $41,000. This sum was requested for salary assistance and the cost of remodelling the new premises at Palmer Street. Beehive Industries continues to operate at the Palmer Street site to this day.

The West Australian, 6 March 1973 News of Beehive Industries early operation even appeared in the Western Australian Press

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1977 - Plans developed for leisure centre

City News, September 1977

Above: MP Robert James Ellicott AC, QC unveiling the official plaque for the opening of the new Beehive Industries leisure centre.

1978 During 1978 the two Beehive workshops were consolidated on the site at Palmer Street on grounds of efficiency. This was also the year Beehive Industries was officially registered as a charity organisation. In 1978 the Co-operative constructed a leisure centre adjoining the workshop premises for use by their members. This area was meant to provide recreation on days when members were not employed or used as a meal room for those not working. Council donated one third of the cost of the new leisure centre, which was opened by the Hon. R. J. Elliott Q.C. Minister for Home Affairs. Until 1978 council continued to provide significant financial support, pending Commonwealth funds becoming available. At that time the Commonwealth considered such requests on a triennial basis and could not consider Beehive’s application for rent assistance until July 1978.

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Above: Long serving CEO/Leisure Centre Manager Barbara Davies (right)

Above: An early shot of Beehive Industries in operation

Above: From left to right, John McGee Johnson & Johnson Helen Kiely McCann-Erickson Advertising Steuart Steuart Beehive Industries

Right: Since its inception in 1971, Beehive has landed some fairly impressive contracts for household brands, such as Johnson & Johnson during a successful campaign for children’s band aids. Here is a photo of the original press release document written by McCann- Erickson, the advertising agency that held the contract for the campaign.

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June 1984

Fish eye photos of beehivers packaging the Readers Digest “Kitchen Handbook”

1985 - Beehive Building Fire Mid April, 1985, a fire broke out overnight in the Beehive Industries warehouse, where York Motors stored their luxury cars. During the fire, the roof over the newly opened leisure centre was caught in the blaze, and the factory floor collapsed, with cars crashing through the roof into Beehive. Much of our customers’ stock was destroyed, with the fire melting the mailhouse equipment and trays from Australia Post, as well as burning the books we were sending out on behalf of Reader’s Digest. The community was shocked to see that the building was completely unusable. Beehive had to shut its doors to all the seniors it supported and the community that had formed until the building was restored.

April 17 1985

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Fighting for the Insurance Payout

After the devastating fire, which had damaged over 80 percent of the Beehive premises, the Sydney City Council struggled to receive a fair insurance payout. The council disputed with insurers over the compensation it should receive for over 11 months, during which time Beehive lost many work contracts. Whilst attendance dropped, many of the Beehive volunteers still looked forward to participating in the community and were very keen for the centre to reopen.

Left: article detailing the ensuing scandal over insurers denying a fair compensation payout for damage to Beehive premises in the wake of the fire

May/June 1986

Beehive Industries continued to gain attention some 15 year after its opening

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Weekly Courier, 4 November 1987

The reopening of the centre following the fire and refurbishment was good news for all

1987 Following the rebuild, our staff were also keen to get back into action. Long serving Beehive Industries Supervisor Peter Winters (bottom row right) with long term General Manager/Leisure Centre Manager Barbara Davies (top row 2nd from the right) and other staff members.

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Above: Outings were a staple for elderly people coming to Beehive, even in the early days

1996-97 - Factory Renovation Beehive Industries was provided with a $650,000 grant from the South Sydney Council to refurbish the building. The majority of this money was used to renovate the factory, which had been damaged in the fire over 10 years prior. The entire factory floor was taken out, with new foundations laid, and new timber flooring was put in. There were also upgrades to the toilets, and the loading dock for access by trucks and delivery vehicles. Beehive put particular focus on improving fire safety measures, as fire had broken out in the building before, installing new sprinklers and emergency signage. Mayor Vic Smith of the South Sydney City Council had approved of the funding and offered continued support over the yearlong renovation.

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1997-98 In 1997, the Beehive Industries factory work area was completely refurbished including an extended floor area, disability access ramps and new disability toilets were installed

Above: MP Tanya Plibersek (left) with South Sydney Mayor Vic Smith (centre) & MP Jenny Macklin (right) at an event held at Beehive Industries

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December 2002 Above: Former CEO & leisure centre manager Barbara Davies CEO (left) with equally long serving former CEO Kay Sauderson (right)

Above: Early photo of current production manager long term staff member Ann O’Mahony (top row right) with her co-workers

2012 - Commercial Kitchen Upgrade With aid from the City of Sydney, Beehive Industries relocated the kitchen closer to the dining hall of the leisure centre. The new “Beehive Bistro” had commercial kitchen equipment; large fridges, freezers, bain maries and an eight burner gas stove installed for food to be prepared and served quickly and efficiently.

Above: Long serving Beehive Industries Cook Ruslina Ruslina (left) with our current production manager Ann O’Mahony (right)

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2015 - Ozharvest Partnership OzHarvest receives food donated from supermarkets, restaurants and cafes around Sydney and has provided thousands of kilos of it to Beehive since mid-2015.

2016 - Low Cost Meals for Seniors (LCMS) Launch In December of 2015, under the direction of CEO Brendan Lonergan, in partnership with Beehive Ambassador Kumar Pereira, the first ever Low Cost Meals for Seniors program was filmed. This program would go on to become a benchmark in the future, garnering the attention and support of both community and corporate partners.

Beehive ambassador Kumar Pereira during the first ever Low Cost Meals for Seniors cooking program being filmed

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Beehive Industries Video Production Studio With the assistance of The Star Entertainment Group, Nikon and APTech we set up a full video production studio. We’ve since gone on to produce over 35 episodes of the Low Cost Meals for Seniors program, live stream cooking classes and even a live fire safety demonstration.

Following on from a special edition of the Low Cost Meals for Seniors cooking classes, we conducted a livestreamed demonstration as part of NSW Fire and Rescue’s “Keep Looking When Cooking” fire safety campaign.

A livestreamed cooking demonstration conducted with Oakleigh Centre Industries in Victoria.

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Outings continue to be popular with Beehivers to this day

Below: Beehivers visiting The Star harvest buffet for lunch.

For the past few years we have done monthly bus outings with the Bishop Laryea (third from left) from City of Sydney’s Reg Murphy Centre

Beehivers on an outing to see the exhibit at Sculptures By The Sea

Beehivers knitted many panels on this exhibit at Sculptures By The Sea

Beehivers love a harbour cruise

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2018 - Full Commercial Print Production Capability added Allowing us to secure valuable new contract works from Telstra, the Department of Primary Industries and NRMA Insurance.

In 2019 Beehive installed full commercial printing equipment courtesy of corporate supporters Konica Minolta

One of our first commercial print jobs was for long serving board member Ms Andrea Plawutsky

Former board member & board chairman Noel Reidy at his retirement after 30 years of tireless service to Beehive Industries

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2020 - Coping with COVID-19 As a seniors’ activity centre, Beehive had to close its doors to the community for several months with the emergence of coronavirus, to reduce the chances of transmitting the virus. In spite of this setback, Beehive staff members conitnued commercial operations. A food parcel delivery program was quickly set up to ensure the seniors had adequate nutrition while they stayed home. This provided aid to many of the service users who were at higher risk living in high-density social housing. Beehive also teamed up with churches to provide care packages to the needy, including students, people who were out of work and the homeless.

Above: In the absence of any Beehivers to work in the factory our staff kept the assembly line running throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period

Above: Minister Mike Hastie (on the right) with one of his volunteers from Newtown/Erskineville Anglican Church

Left: With the advent of the pandemic Beehivers were provided with guidance from staff on safety measures such as the wearing of masks

Above: Associate Minister Jason Cheng from Saint Barnabas Anglican Church, Broadway loads up with food parcels provided by Beehive

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Beehivers are always glad when the OzHarvest food truck arrives

Our chef Linda Westacott and supervisor Peter Winters ready for another weekly food parcel delivery

NSW Government social procurement announcement Above: Channel 10 News visits Beehive Industries to report on the NSW Government announcement supporting procurement from certified social enterprises

To further promote the benefits of Social Procurement, our CEO Brendan Lonergan regularly does guest lectures at UTS Business School

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2020 - “Share a Meal Share a Conversation” Cookbook launch With the issue of social isolation manifesting itself as a more widespread and serious problem during the global pandemic, CEO Brendan Lonergan envisioned using video conferencing to connect seniors with their friends and family, and using cooking as a shared topic between the generations. To facilitate the conversation around this idea Beehive created an interactive, online cookbook comprised of cost effective recipes for seniors on a limited budget. On the 29th of September 2020 the Patron of Beehive Industries, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW, launched a printed version of the cookbook at Beehive. She spoke about her own difficulties on Zoom during the earlier months of the pandemic, and further encouraged seniors and their loved ones to embrace video calling as a simple method of sharing conversation.

We were delighted when the “Share a Meal Share a Conversation” cookbook made the finals international Gourmand World Cookbook Awards which are being held in Paris in June 2021

2020 - Woolworths OzHarvest Christmas appeal Woolworths and OzHarvest selected Beehive to be the place where they would film an advertisement for their Christmas appeal in 2020. During the clip, Beehive support users speak with drivers from OzHarvest and a store manager from Woolworths on rescuing food from being wasted.

Our chef Linda Westacott appeared nationally on billboards & TV commercials as part of a very successful Woolworths fundraising appeal in support of OzHarvest

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Above: Beehive conducts regular health information and history classes

March 2021

Above: Beehive Industries continues to adapt and now holds weekly classes in English as a second language via Zoom

March 2021 2021 saw further additions to our Services, Painting, sewing activity, even origami lessons are on the agenda.

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We value the support of our corporate volunteers

KPMG volunteers helping us with an episode of the Low Cost Meals for Seniors class

Stockland volunteers helping us with premises redesign ideas

April 2019 Above: We welcomed corporate volunteers from Sydney Swans to help with the Legacy Rosemary appeal for Anzac Day sprigging

September 2020

Above: Volunteers from United Way helped Beehivers package books for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library

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BP Corporate Volunteers supporting our Food Rescue partners OzHarvest

HLB Mann Judd Volunteers helping us setup a Beehive Industries Christmas party

Our commercial operations are crucial to Beehive Industries, not only does the work keep our service users active and engaged, the revenue generated is vital to funding our support services. Our major customers include:

Telstra

Telstra are true Social Procurement Champions and have been a key Corporate Supporter of Beehive Industries for over 5 years.

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Racing NSW

We have been providing forensic test kit assembly, promotional packaging, order processing distribution services to Racing NSW for over 20 years

Corporate Supporters and Customers

We value the support of our many commercial customers and corporate supporters

Our community grant sponsor

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