AFG supports crisis centre kitchen

The centre supports adults aged 18 and over who are experiencing homelessness in and around the city of Perth.

Tranby Engagement Hub provides those experiencing homelessness with essential services such as food and showers, while supporting them to develop any additional skills they may need to move towards secure accommodation.

The AFG team supported 292 people in need at the hub on the day, led by the aggregator’s Western Australia state manager Jia Jia Wong.

AFG said that members of the team had been volunteering regularly at Tranby Engagement Hub since 2023, but the recent event was the first time that brokers also participated.

The brokers in attendance were Josh De Buelle (broker principal at FiNext), Jake Hindley (finance specialist at FiNext), Rohan Kandiah (finance specialist at FiNext), Cary Paddick (parabroker at FiNext), Aoife Farrell (broker at Central Lending Solutions), and Elizabeth Barnes (broker and officer manager at Central Lending Solutions).

Members of the AFG team who attended were David Drinkwater (national sales manager of commercial and asset finance), Andy Drake (Western Australian state sales manager), Lisa Lam (partnership manager), and Sanil Shah (partnership support manager).

Wong said the experience was “rewarding and humbling for all who participated”.

She said: “We worked together as a team, unified by our desire to help those less fortunate. While extremely sad to see these people do not have a home, it felt good to extend a helping hand to those in need.

“Although our group just spent a morning, I feel we will all remember the experience and what we learnt for a lifetime, and we will all be far more grateful and appreciative of the safe and secure lives we lead.

“Our team plans to do this again and will continue to extend the invitation to brokers.”

The aggregator is also a principal partner of the Foyer Foundation, a national charity organisation that offers young people accommodation as they seek education and employment opportunities.

More brokers are expected to volunteer next week, as Volunteer Week takes place between 20 and 26 May. Volunteer Week is an international celebration that encourages individuals to volunteer and serve the community across a variety of sectors.

This year, Volunteer Week’s theme is ‘Something for Everyone’ and aims to recognise the “diverse passions” of those who volunteer.

The broking industry has previously participated in goodwill initiatives including COG Aggregation’s blood drive earlier this year and raising funds for mental health charity event MANtalk.

[Related: Asset finance aggregator calls on brokers to donate blood]