Digging deep to support youth employment
For 15-year-old Maison Milne, the perks of securing local employment means walking to walk, being able to drop home for lunch and most importantly, lend a helping hand to create a thriving community at Yarrabilba.
Visiting the Yarrabilba Jobs Exchange service at The Buzz Community Hub school holidays, Maison and his mum Tenille discussed the various school-based apprenticeships available, before being signed up with East Coast Apprenticeships. Within three weeks Maison was offered a full-time position with Eureka Landscapes.
“This is my first full-time job and I’m really enjoying it. I enjoy the people I work with and living so close to where I am working. I don’t have to get up so early and can walk to work,” said Maison.
“Every day is so different and the variety of work is great. It’s exciting to be part of the Eureka team, being involved in the creation of new parks, from planting trees to laying turf. My advice for other young people looking for work would be to drop into The Buzz and visit the team at the Yarrabilba Jobs Exchange. They are so supportive and really helped me find local employment.”
Maison’s mum, Tenille, said her family moved to Yarrabilba four years ago, wanting to be part of a vibrant and growing community.
“Given Maison is only 15, this is a fantastic opportunity for him, working so close to home,” she said.
“Maison wasn’t enjoying school, so we visited The Exchange. They were fantastic and signed him up to East Coast Apprenticeships on the spot.”
Eureka Landscapes Foreman Heath Pyatt said by providing job opportunities to locals like Maison helps them build a sense of pride in the community they live and work in.
“In total, we have employed four young locals. The benefit to employing locals like Maison is that they have a higher sense of community, which helps us deliver better project outcomes,” said Heath.
“Maison has been helping create parklands and streetscapes for the local Yarrabilba community. Our team is very excited to deliver the new District Park, which will provide hours of fun for all ages.
“Our role has been planting within “The Parks” parkland with native plants and trees. From the bespoke playground tower placed within the native eucalyptus trees to the ninja warrior course, it’s going to be wild.”
The Yarrabilba Jobs Exchange at The Buzz places great importance on empowering young people like Maison to take control of their career journey, providing support and guidance to connect them to local job opportunities.
The Exchange operator, Niu Fiu, encourages local businesses to make use of their free service to help with recruiting staff. The Yarrabilba Jobs Exchange is open from 8.30am - 4.30pm every Monday to Friday. You can contact the team on TheExchange@ymcabrisbane.org or 0499 753 916.
Click here to learn more about what's on offer at The Exchange
