As part of SLES, we went on an excursion to Sunshine. At the start of the excursion, we had to meet at Sunshine Station. Since people had to be dropped off or had to take public transport, it was the easiest place to meet before embarking on our adventure through Sunshine. After everyone arrived, we started doing our worksheets that were handed to us. Whilst we were doing the worksheets, we stopped to take a photo at a statue of a man holding onto a giant cow.

As an entire group we went to the Visy Cares Hub and had tours of the venue and were given information about the services that are provided inside the Hub, such as Headspace, Orygen and so many others. During the Visy Cares Hub tour, the tour guide showed us around the different rooms and all the activities that are provided. There is a tie-dye workshop, a barber workshop, and a hospitality workshop about working in a café, being a barista and learning coffee art. Plus a bonus is they’re all free. You can even hire out the classrooms for your own training. The guide said that they’re focused on employment services and happy for anyone who is in that line of work to use their spaces.

Visy Cares Hub offers Barber workshops

We witnessed a security guard course doing their CPR training which was cool. The tour guide also told us about the different events that go on in the hub, such as a Careers Day expo in May which she invited us to attend, a resume writing workshop and an open mic day which is happening due to Youth Week. These tours were great. I (Shakaya) found out they are holding a free Certificate 3 Barista course next month and the tour guide said she would send the information to Brittany [SLES Mentor]. Ethan was asking the tour guide a lot of questions about hospitality courses which is what he wants to do. We got so much information about what is on offer in Brimbank and we found out about all the free events on next week as well.

The SLES team learnt about hospitality courses including barista training

We went to the Sunshine Library which we noticed had a lot of places to study and a Toy Library. For our (Hamish and Kasey) SLES unit, Industry Visits, we had to write all the names of shops, their contact details and what industry they are. We walked all around Sunshine, looking at all the shops and writing stuff down about them. We wrote down some stores such as JB Hi-Fi and EB Games.

The SLES participants took down notes about different retail outlets

For my (Shakaya) unit, Participate in the Community, I had to write and take photos of specific things in the Sunshine community such as places that sell goods and services, how we pay for things, some community activities and our rights and responsibilities in the community.

After we finished our lunch, we walked towards another part of the Sunshine Plaza which had several shops that included an Aldi, a factory outlet and an assortment of other stores. As we were walking around the Sunshine Community, we noticed that there were a lot of Youth and Disability Services.

Whilst we (Hamish and Kasey) were walking around Sunshine Plaza, we noticed that there were a lot of stores that were looking for people to work due to COVID and them not having enough employees. Brittany made as write down their contact details, for anyone who was interested in applying.

SLES participants took notes about the local community and job opportunities

Whilst I (Shakaya) was walking around the main shopping district, I noticed there were a lot of shops that were closing down or having clearance sales, which was really upsetting. Since the COVID pandemic it is very difficult for the owners and/or employees to make a profit. However, a plus is for those of us who are job seekers there are a lot more opportunities at the moment. This is why I think Brittany and Suzie [SLES Trainer] took us on this excursion, to see what is on offer for us.

Thanks for reading this month’s blog post.

To find out more about our SLES program visit our School Leaver Employment Support page.

Wondering how SLES works? Visit our SLES FAQ.

Want to know if SLES is right for you? Contact one of our friendly team members on 9731 9200 or email us at hello@mambourin.org