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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Project manager for GROW Bendigo, Rob Murphy, said the idea for the expo came from a discussion with CEO of Heathcote Health, Dan Douglass.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe said we first wanted to take tangible real actions towards helping people find employment in the Heathcote community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Murphy said many people have had to leave the region to find employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in a bit of weird sport. It\u2019s 50 kilometres from Bendigo, it\u2019s 50 kilometres from Kyneton,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people leave the community, young kids go to school in Bendigo and then don\u2019t come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really about trying to just generate some interest and get connections happening in the Heathcote community in terms of finding people work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Murphy said if the expo helped people either find work or a way into work, it\u2019s a win.<\/p>\n
\u201cGROW Bendigo is about finding people at the back of the employment queue either pathways into employment or into employment,\u201d said Mr Murphy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone comes here today and they go, I can\u2019t get into a job, but I can find a pathway, then we\u2019re just as happy with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can change the landscape just one little bit by building connections and seeing a little improvement in the employment rate, then that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking by the number of people in the room, I think we\u2019re doing okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a teacher for eight years and worked for this company for 15 and then it was over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018What do I do now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the city, you sort of fill out your forms and you do all that. You hardly speak with anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when I came here, it was different. APM helped get me a laptop, got me into the SEE program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI carve and I paint, and I\u2019ve been a teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on the home list queue, and I\u2019m like, \u2018How do you get from here back to something when you\u2019ve got no money?<\/p>\n
Mr Macaulay said his new start emerged from having nothing more to lose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually told them can I demonstrate what you guys have allowed me to do?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n