Lend a Hand and UYCH
Lend a Hand is a not-for-profit (NFP) organisation that provides opportunities for unemployed people to build strong community partnerships by undertaking projects in their community to benefit their community.
Recently UYCH and Lend a Hand embarked on a joint project for the UYCH Family and Children’s Services’ (FACs) Mt Evelyn campus to upgrade a playground. This means that the children who attend the centre will benefit from the work of Lend a Hand volunteers and the volunteers themselves will gain transferable skills to take into employment. The project will take six months to complete and will provide opportunities for a team of ten volunteers to learn new skills and work in their community.
The children at FaCS Mt Evelyn are very happy to see how their playground is shaping up and the Lend a Hand volunteers are happy to have enthusiastic onlookers.
About Lend a Hand
They bring together skilled trades people and the enthusiasm of participants to run projects that allow people to learn and gain valuable experiences whilst making a difference to the community.
Lend a Hand is a Victorian and Queensland based NFP organisation delivering a variety of community projects for the benefit of the public. These projects assist providers to keep case-loaded job seekers safe, create sustainable employment opportunities along with additional Work for the Dole (WFD) openings for jobseekers.
How they operate
They support jobseekers by giving them an opportunity to gain skills and experience with on the job training. Safety is paramount so the provision of appropriate equipment and safety gear is also provided to maintain OH&S requirements.
Now for the best bit, job creation
Offering this service allows Lend a Hand to have a unique point of difference for jobactive providers, by developing sustainable entry level jobs for jobseekers along with added single or group based WFD opportunities as a by-product of using our service.  They will up skill newly employed workers with industry recognised accreditations and certificates moving them on to partner employers to generate additional entry level openings. Many jobseekers have gained the skills required and through this program have gone on to secure permanent employment.
For further information about Lend a Hand call Penny Houben – 0434 003 751 or email penny.houben@lendahand.org.au or simply visit their website.