Work opportunities showcased at expo

ABOUT thirty businesses, groups and government departments from across the district showcased themselves at the first Heathcote and District Employment Expo at Barrack Reserve on Tuesday.

The event was organised by GROW Bendigo in association with Heathcote Health, Heathcote Community House, Jobs Victoria, Workforce Australia, and the City of Greater Bendigo.

Project manager for GROW Bendigo, Rob Murphy, said the idea for the expo came from a discussion with CEO of Heathcote Health, Dan Douglass.

“We said we first wanted to take tangible real actions towards helping people find employment in the Heathcote community,” he said.

Mr Murphy said many people have had to leave the region to find employment.

“It’s in a bit of weird sport. It’s 50 kilometres from Bendigo, it’s 50 kilometres from Kyneton,” he said.

“A lot of people leave the community, young kids go to school in Bendigo and then don’t come back.

“It’s really about trying to just generate some interest and get connections happening in the Heathcote community in terms of finding people work.”

Mr Murphy said if the expo helped people either find work or a way into work, it’s a win.

“GROW Bendigo is about finding people at the back of the employment queue either pathways into employment or into employment,” said Mr Murphy.

“If someone comes here today and they go, I can’t get into a job, but I can find a pathway, then we’re just as happy with that.

“If we can change the landscape just one little bit by building connections and seeing a little improvement in the employment rate, then that’s good.

“Looking by the number of people in the room, I think we’re doing okay.”

Simon Macaulay recently moved to Heathcote from Melbourne, where he was employed as a secondary school teacher and then in transport for many years, but his life took a major turn during the pandemic.

“I was a teacher for eight years and worked for this company for 15 and then it was over,” he said.

“I was like, ‘What do I do now?’”

He has been receiving help from employment service provider APM to start an art business and attended the expo to share how he was assisted.

“In the city, you sort of fill out your forms and you do all that. You hardly speak with anyone,” he said.

“But when I came here, it was different. APM helped get me a laptop, got me into the SEE program.

“I carve and I paint, and I’ve been a teacher.

“I’m on the home list queue, and I’m like, ‘How do you get from here back to something when you’ve got no money?

Mr Macaulay said his new start emerged from having nothing more to lose.

“I actually told them can I demonstrate what you guys have allowed me to do?” he said.