At the heart of local communities around Australia, you’ll find a Coles supermarket – and we love to get involved with these communities where we can.

Our team members and customers are involved in many local clubs and groups, from schools to sport clubs. And our Local Community Support program recognises these grass-roots groups and organisations by providing support to help with fundraisers, raffles, community days and other activities.

If you are seeking support or want to find out how your local store can help, please complete this application form and return it to your local store manager.

See below some stories on how Coles has helped

Sports for Schools

As schools start to return for the 2013 year, the Coles Sports for Schools program is delivering sporting equipment to over 7000 schools. Coles Sports for Schools sees our stores and local communities coming together to support their schools with much needed sports equipment. So far over $18 million of sporting equipment has been given away to schools throughout Australia and this number will increase as we deliver through the first weeks of the 2013 school term.

Partnership with the National Rugby League

The three to five-week program, developed and delivered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL) Development Offices can be implemented into current PE curriculum, engages children in learning the essential ‘game sense’ skills, with a modified informal version of rugby league.

To date the program has engaged more than 1.25million students. This year the Coles Backyard League will embrace over 150,000 primary school students nationwide. View more

The Coles AFL Schools Program provides opportunities for girls and boys to participate in Australian Football. In 2011 over 300,000 school students participated in a structured competition of more than six weeks duration. The AFL also produces an array of AFL themed curriculum resources to support teachers engage with students while achieving educational outcomes. Teachers are linked to the AFL through the Coles AFL Schools Ambassador Program which provides support and training for teachers who strongly promote Australian Football in their school and community. View more.

Coles Subiaco helps people in need (WA)

In March 2012, Coles Subiaco became the 100th store to join the Coles Community Food with SecondBite program. The food collected from Coles Subiaco helps groups, such as The Shopfront in Maylands, which provides food, shelter and a welcoming environment for people experiencing difficulties in their lives. 

With on the ground assistance from Food Rescue - WA in Greater Perth and Foodbank WA in regional centres, SecondBite will distribute surplus healthy, fresh produce and bakery items from over 70 Coles stores to dozens of local community food programs in metropolitan, regional and remote communities within WA.

Cheer for the Kids Christmas Appeal  (ACT & NSW)

Since 2001, Coles has partnered with the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. In 2011 our supermarkets in NSW and ACT launched the Coles Cheer for the Kids Christmas Appeal to support kids like Hugo, a neuroblastoma cancer patient at the Sydney Children’s Hospital. Every year, the hospital treats 325,000 children suffering from cancer and other life threatening illnesses.  Over $130,000 was raised through the sale of raffle tickets and $10,000 in gift card prizes were distributed to the winners.

Children’s Health Foundation Queensland

Over the past year, with the help of our generous customers, Coles Supermarkets throughout Queensland have raised over $300,000 for the Children’s Health Foundation Queensland! Funds raised will help fund vital telemedicine research aimed at linking regional children in intensive and emergency care situations to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

Telemedicine reduces the gap between specialists through video conferencing and internet technology to help all kids in emergency situations get help when they need it most.  Through this world-first trial, researchers anticipate that by improving communication through the use of telemedicine, there will be better outcomes for seriously ill, vulnerable kids and for their families throughout Queensland.

Geelong Hospital Gala Day Parade (Vic) 

Coles has proudly sponsored the Geelong Hospital Gala Day Parade every year since 2009. At the most recent parade in November 2011, team members from our Geelong stores were out in force supporting their local community, handing out fresh apples to promote healthy eating with children, big red ‘Down Down’ hands and creating a sea of red and white Coles balloons.

Taste Festival (Tas)  

The annual Taste Festival attracts more than 25,000 visitors to Hobart each year and over December and January 2012, we were proud to support the “Coles Kids in the Park” precinct. The “Making Food Fun” interactive cooking classes were held daily at Coles Kids in the Park on the lawns on Parliament House. As part of the event, Coles raised over $5000 for Camp Quality to support children with cancer and their families.

Tour Down Under (SA & NT)  

Coles sponsored the 2012 Tour Down Under held in January 2012, providing more than 12,000 bananas, 10,000 muffins and 10,000 nectarines to the participants of the BUPA Challenge Cycling Tour which raises funds for Cancer Council.