Witmore, much like many other not-for-profit organisations in the mining regions of NSW would cease to exist if it wasn’t for the generous and ongoing support of mining companies like Glencore.

Witmore Limited is a disability support service based in Singleton. The organisation started over 60 years ago when two local families came together to create a place where their children with disabilities could thrive.

“At the time children with disabilities were not allowed to attend main stream schools. The families decided that it wasn’t good enough, opening the first school in the region to offer education to all children with a disability. The vision grew from there with the opening of a supported workshop, where those students were employed to work and from there it just kept on growing and evolving,” said Witmore CEO Rachel Baigent.

Now Witmore has a respite house, runs the Riverside Kiosk in Singleton, and operates a large workshop that distributes products to local businesses and mine sites.

Witmore deliver NDIS support to about 60 people in the local area which is something they wouldn’t be able to do without the support of the local mining industry.

“Glencore have used our workshop to purchase products for their sites including survey pegs and shotfirers. When I took over the CEO role, I wanted to understand our customers and vice versa so I reached out to them to see if they actually knew what we do at Witmore.

“The Glencore team came out and had a look, we then participated in their open day for their families at the mine site and collected the cans from the day to go towards our can recycling program our participants run.

“That started a beautiful relationship with Tracey Snedden, Glencore’s Community Relations Coordinator, who came to have a look at what we did. She encouraged us to apply for some funding through one of their major grant applications and we were successful!”

The grant funding will go a long way, helping Witmore with three major projects.

The first is allowing Witmore to purchase vehicles to accommodate our growing numbers and offer transport to participants in order to access support services and employment at Witmore in Singleton. The second is the purchase of two industrial-size exhaust fans for the workshop, and lastly the funding will also help Witmore investigate new ways of offering supported employment opportunities.

“Our participants are very limited in terms of employment opportunities; that’s not just a local problem that’s everywhere – there’s still a lot of education to be done around what it means to employ someone with a disability even though they are the hardest and most committed workers you will ever hire!”

Tracey said they’re proud to support Witmore, an organisation committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive community.

“We’re proud to support Witmore’s efforts through practical solutions, like the purchase of vehicles to assist with participant and employee transportation, the installation of two dust extraction fans to improve the health and safety of those working in the Witmore Workshop, the expansion of Witmore’s Riverside Kiosk kitchen, and further support of their successful can recycling initiative.

“By supporting their incredible work, we hope to assist Witmore in creating opportunities for everyone to thrive and contribute meaningfully to our local communities,” Tracy added.

“Glencore is simply awesome, they genuinely care, we’re very lucky,” said Rachel.

“We, like so many other businesses, are very reliant on the mines. If we didn’t have them ordering products from our workshop, we wouldn’t be able to keep the workshop open and offer over 30 people with a disability a job in the region.

“There is a huge part of mining that people often don’t understand – the mines give so much to the community, the difference they make to not-for-profits like us is huge.

“I think we’re lucky to live in this region and be surrounded by people who are so willing to support what we do.”