When local businesses and organisations work together, great things happen. That’s certainly the case with the partnership between Dandenong RSL and My Inspiration Never Dies (MIND), an Exercise Physiology, Sport and Health Science business.
The pair joined forces 12 months ago and began offering exercise physiology support to veterans and their partners at Dandenong RSL.
Veterans Welfare Advocate and Coordinator Vladimir Nagorny said the relationship grew after MIND was invited to be a guest speaker at several veterans events. From there, MIND began offering exercise physiology sessions to Dandenong RSL veterans, who are predominantly aged 50 to 90.
“The veterans’ feedback was outstanding,” Vladimir said. “Many of our veterans have PTSD, anxiety, depression and most of the elderly veterans sit at home. Group exercise helps people to talk to each other and they learn how to move around the home and how to prevent falls. We’ve found it very useful.”
The program was so well received, Dandenong RSL and MIND put in a joint application and successfully won a $100,000 Department of Veterans’ Affairs grant to provide up to 800 hours of exercise physiology support to veterans in 2025.
“We’ll be putting a MIND facility inside the Dandenong RSL for about 15 to 20 hours per week,” MIND co-owner and director Graham Dudley said. “There will be free access for veterans to come and do workshops, do some exercise and access education around their wellbeing.”
After launching as a single-site operation in Dandenong South in 2021, MIND is currently undergoing a tremendous period of growth, with 150 satellite sites to be opened across Australia over the next 18 to 24 months, and another 50 being set up in New Zealand. Later this year, MIND is also planning to do a roadshow to visit more than 80 RSLs across the country to explore partnership opportunities.
Graham’s advice to other businesses looking to form partnerships was to ensure both parties’ values aligned. “The philosophy of our business is based upon empathy, so we specifically work with partners that we can empathise with,” he said. “As soon as you can get that across the line, it becomes a very easy relationship.”
