A Winning Partnership for Hungry Students

The Club’s Sporting and Community Partnerships Manager, Michael Hanratty, says the inspiration to partner with Eat Up Australia stemmed from a desire to address one of the most basic human needs: food accessibility.

"With the cost-of-living crisis only worsening, we know that for many families, having sufficient income to pay for food is becoming more difficult," Michael explains. 

"When we learned that one in four Australian students attend school without lunch on a daily basis, something had to be done.”

In the first year of the partnership, staff volunteered to make sandwiches that were delivered to local schools, with a portion of sales from selected menu items going directly to Eat Up as a fundraising initiative. Eat Up was also financially supported through the ClubGRANTS program. 

This support has helped up to a dozen local schools. Bankstown Sports’ goals are to support more schools and the students in these schools, getting more of the Club’s staff involved in the sandwich-making process through more volunteering days, and to create more awareness of the organisation among the Club’s members.

Reflecting on the partnership's local impact, Michael, a former teacher, says: "I have seen first-hand how insufficient dietary intake can negatively impact a student’s ability to concentrate, self-regulate and achieve positive learning outcomes." 

Through this partnership, Eat Up is now successfully providing their services to over a dozen local schools within the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA, positively impacting hundreds of students' physical, social, mental and cognitive wellbeing. 

"We are incredibly proud to support Eat Up Australia in their mission to combat student hunger. Ensuring that children have access to nutritious meals is fundamental to their ability to learn and thrive,” says Michael.

Amanda Howle, CEO of Eat Up Australia, expresses her gratitude for the partnership: "Bankstown Sports Club's commitment to our cause is truly inspiring. Their generous support enables us to provide thousands of lunches to students who would otherwise go without. Together, we are creating a brighter future for these children.” 

The partnership's success was recently recognised at the Clubs & Community Awards, where Bankstown Sports took out the Health Care category.

"There are over 50 schools in this LGA, and I have no doubt that there are many students in these schools that could benefit from the support of Eat Up," Michael says.

"Eat Up has developed a simple solution for a significant issue. Sometimes, the simplest solutions can make a world of difference, and clubs are in a privileged position to contribute and support this great initiative."