TELUS and Scouts Canada Honour The Great Trail

When it comes to social and environmental purpose, the premise for TELUS is simple: “We give where we live.” In a nutshell, the Canadian national telecommunications company prioritizes charitable funds and services to organizations doing great work right here in Canada.

Generosity at the Core of Business

Giving back has always been embedded into TELUS culture. They were the first Canadian company to be named Most Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation — an international honour.

Part of their charitable portfolio is the annual TELUS Days of Giving event. The company has pledged to volunteer a #MillionHours in communities across the country. To date the initiative has mobilized more than 132,000 Canadian team members and retirees, and their families and friends, to contribute more than 417,000 hours of service benefiting local communities.

This year, Days of Giving brought together more than 20,000 volunteers to over 1,500 activities across Canada — including an initiative to honour The Great Trail. On June 3, outside of Victoria at Camp Barnard, TELUS held an event to spotlight two organizations: Trans Canada Trail and Scouts Canada.

Trailing Ahead

For more than 70 years, Camp Barnard has offered the use of 250 acres to organizations that deliver programs focused around outdoor skills and nature education, including Scouts Canada. In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Scouts created a visual tribute to The Great Trail in the form of a mural depicting the 13 provinces and territories. TELUS commissioned this mural, which will be hung in the main building as a tribute to the Trail. The Scouts have also created a Great Trail Scout Badge — to be awarded to young Scouts who either walk the Trail or do work on the Trail.
Approximately 40 TELUS team members and volunteers participated in a variety of activities, including the creation and presentation of the mural. Jim Bishop, a TCT Board member, attended the event, as did Dick Auchinleck, Chair of the Board of TELUS Corporation board, his wife Linda, who participated in the creation of the mural. Here’s what Mel Cooper, TELUS Victoria Community Board Chair, had to say.

“At TELUS we are working to enable better health outcomes for Canadians by advancing wellness through improved health information. That’s why, from Victoria to Halifax, our twelve TELUS Community Boards, are actively supporting The Great Trail. Creating a healthy, sustainable – and friendlier – future means connecting kids and adults to nature, no matter where they live in Canada.”

Thanks to everyone who participated!

To learn more about the charitable initiatives of TELUS, visit their social purpose page.

Artist behind the mural : Penny Hill, office manager at VDA Architecture, prhill@shaw.ca