Held at Dandenong Civic Centre, the Future Focus Fairs were a great way for our jobseeker community to connect. The fairs were developed by the ‘Investing in Those Who Need it the Most’ Priority Action Group (PAG) and supported by GameChange to work collaboratively on issues experienced by local jobseekers.
The PAG focuses on improving the journey to employment for all jobseekers who face disadvantages and/or economic exclusion, is backed by local organisations, and aims to increase participation and employment sustainability for more people in our community.
Great conversations were had and connections made, with visitors stopping at stalls as diverse as health and wellbeing, refugee assistance, preparing for work, financial support and legal information. Some people participated in a coffee making demonstration and there was free yoghurt and giveaways, including Dandenong Market vouchers.
Two of the successes were:
- A widowed mother and jobseeker who needs to retrain to find work to support herself and her son after spending many years out of the workforce. She connected to an attending community organisation, formed trust and they will help her to retrain in hospitality.
- Two local community organisations met at one of the fairs, one has recently lost some State Government funding. They are going to get together and find ways to help each other's clients; avoiding duplicated services (and maybe offer something new).
Contact GameChange by email if you’d like to be part of one of the fairs in 2024 gamechange@cgd.vic.gov.au