Bryce Eishold
Mid Valley Shopping Centre will be the new home of a community learning hub to tackle unemployment in the region.
The hub’s aim is to tackle youth unemployment by offering skills and services to encourage school-aged children to obtain qualifications relevant to the job they wish to pursue.
People experiencing long-term unemployment and young parents seeking to increase their vocational learning pathways will also have access to The Hive which is expected to be established at Mid Valley in the coming months.
The Hive is designed to help develop a skilled workforce in the Latrobe Valley and address the current rate of unemployment which data shows sits well above the state average.
Berry Street Gippsland assistant director Jane Barr said the “neighbourhood house” approach would help bring together local service providers to deliver courses relevant to people’s needs.
The hub will offer a range of practical skills in safe food handing, customer and retail service, teamwork skills, catering and hospitality and first aid to name a few.
“Mid Valley is a place where you can come and get a coffee and an opportunity to have that conversation about what your learning journey may be and how to access ongoing training,” Ms Barr said.
“At the moment a lot of the people that we are focusing on are the long-term unemployed who have low numeracy and literacy and haven’t really connected in a social way for a long time.”
People living in the Latrobe Valley were three times more likely to experience long term unemployment, Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed.
Data from the Local Learning and Employment Network also showed about 25 per cent of people aged 15 to 19 in the Latrobe Valley were not engaged in education, work or training.
The Hive has been established for two years and has been delivered at a number of locations including the Morwell library.
“Previously we’ve operated the service separately but what we’ve done is a form a coalition so we can offer a one-stop model for social and emotional wellbeing and community learning,” Ms Barr said.
“A lot of people that we’re talking about haven’t been able to have their needs met through TAFE … they haven’t had the experience of learning and being in classroom and the confidence that goes with that.
“We’ll have a fully structured program that people can come in and self-select, like a menu of social programs and pre-accredited courses and Fed Training will be supporting us to help create pathways to their local campus when people are ready.”
The Hive will be made up of community programs from Gippsland Employment Skills Training, Berry Street, Quantum Support Services, GippsSport and Baw Baw Latrobe LLEN.
People or organisations who are able to assist with financial support for the lease of the hub or those interested in getting involved are asked to contact Berry Street in Morwell.
