Since 2016, the Pat Cronin Foundation has held an annual fundraising walk in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs. The Dyson Group’s help has become a key part of the day’s growing success.
After the first Pat Cronin Foundation Be Wise Walk in 2016, Matt Cronin sat down with his team to review the event.
With a profit of just under $50,000 for a morning walk, the founding director of the Pat Cronin Foundation thought the temporarily named ‘Walk to the Valley’ had been a success. Yet there was one way the foundation could make its annual fundraising event even better for participants in the years to come.
“We did a debrief after the first walk and thought it would be good to have a coach service,” Cronin told ABC. “The walk is a one way, eight-kilometre walk, so we needed buses to transfer people back to their cars at the starting point.”
Based in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs, the Pat Cronin Foundation is right in the midst of the services that the Dyson Group has ran for decades. Unfortunately, the foundation was started after a sickening tragedy hit the region.
In April 2016, Matt’s son Pat Cronin was killed by a coward punch out the front of a Diamond Creek pub.
In the aftermath of such a horrifying event, Matt and his family banded together to create the Pat Cronin Foundation to honour his late son and put an end to the coward punch.
In the years that have followed, the Cronin’s have led an expanding foundation that has covered Victoria, educating schools and clubs about the importance of stopping violence. By following the motto of ‘Be Wise’, Cronin hopes to end instances of violence that inevitably lead to a coward punch.
“Everything about the foundation and what we try to do aims to end violence and the coward punch,” Cronin says. “We deliver on this by educating and getting into the hearts and minds of young people.
“Every dollar raised through events like our annual Be Wise Walk is channelled into delivering these services so that the first session for each group is of no cost.”
Following a successful start to the walk in 2016, Cronin turned to the bus and coach industry to take it to the next level.
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Through a work colleague, Cronin got in touch with Dysons. Soon after, he was walking into the Dyson Group boardroom in Bundoora, Melbourne, to meet with co-managing director Lance Deacon.
The meeting would stay with Cronin forever.
A MOMENT IN TIME
Cronin remembers first walking into the boardroom at Dysons. He thought he was coming in to meet Deacon one on one to discuss how Dysons could help the foundation with its annual walk. Cronin was instead met by a room full of Dyson Group managers, all waiting for Deacon’s instructions.
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“Lance asked me what I needed from them before he put the wheels in motion,” Cronin says. “I told him what we wanted and he instantly began issuing orders to his managers, pointing at them and telling them what their particular jobs were.
“He then told me to not even think about the cost side of things, as they would cover everything. It was just amazing how he took control of the situation. It’s been like that since that year onwards.”
By 2017, the Dyson Group was an integral part of the Be Wise Walk. Each year since (COVID-permitting), three Dysons’ coaches have transported participants to Heidelberg Cricket Club’s oval at Warringal Park to register and begin the walk.
A few hours later the same buses make their way to the nearby Lower Plenty Football Club to transport the walkers back to their cars.
Ever since the first meeting with Deacon and Dysons’ managers, Cronin says the operator’s support for the foundation’s cause has been unwavering.
“Dysons has been an amazing supporter of us and our walk,” Cronin says. “I contact the team at Dysons each year once the date for the walk is settled. They reply straight away saying they’re in and asking what we want them to do.”
From 900 participants in the inaugural walk in 2016, the foundation’s primary event has grown year upon year. Since being rebranded to the Be Wise Walk in 2017, the event has raised more than $700,000 for the foundation in seven years.
The event first started when two local cricketers reached out to Cronin with an idea for local foundations to share the charity event. When Cronin was the only one to respond, the Be Wise Walk became Cronin’s own special day.
From Dysons’ perspective, it was a no-brainer to help Cronin.
Dyson Group managing director CEO Andrew Jakab says community events like the Be Wise Walk are always high on the operator’s priorities.
“Dysons has always been a proud sponsor of local communities and especially the communities in which it operates,” Jakab told ABC. “We realise that our success is driven by a constructive engagement with whom we live and work with.
“With respect to the Pat Cronin Foundation, we feel like it’s the very least we can do to help a local family that faced such a tragic and difficult loss.”
The Dysons managing director says the provision of bus services to help get people to and from the annual walk is something the operator will always be happy to do.
In its 70th year as a company, Dysons has a well-established tradition of sponsoring worthy causes in local communities.
Jakab says this community focus is important for the operator as it provides a way for the Dyson Group to thank the people that have helped drive its success.
“It’s important to us that those who give up time to support the Pat Cronin Foundation have a positive experience while doing so,” Jakab says.
“We always put the best quality assets and the newest buses in our fleet towards these activities because it demonstrates our commitment to the cause while providing a pleasant experience.
“We’ll keep supplying buses to help people at events like the Be Wise Walk.”
If any others in the industry are interested in getting involved with the Pat Cronin Foundation, head to their website at www.patcroninfoundation.org.au and keep an eye out for the 2023 Be Wise Walk.