Job-seekers go to work

A young boy taking a photo of one of the youth garden features. 161485 Picture: CONTRIBUTED

By Jodie Symonds

A GROUP of job-seekers has been busy creating a garden area at the Mountain District Learning Centre in Ferntree Gully for youth students.
The youth garden was an initiative offered by Employment Services Group, where job-seekers undertake community work to be eligible for the government’s dole payments.
Leisure Program and Volunteer Program Co-ordinator at Mountain District Learning Centre, Rachel Bast said a group of 25 job-seekers worked on the project to re-create a safe place where students could relax, chat or study.
“We had many meetings with the job-seekers, and we set it all out, planned how we were going to create it – and it turned out great,” Ms Bast said.
The project began in mid-April and was completed in October.
“We worked right through all of the horrible weather including rain to get it done,” she said.
“It all turned out to be a huge success, our job-seekers did an awesome job – and some of them loved it so much they want to come back.”
The program has now finished, but a new program will start on Monday 7 November.
For more information, visit www.mdlc.com.au