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STEPS News
Luke steps into new life 01/02/2007
We regularly hear comments that job seekers – especially young ones – “don’t really want to work”. Luke Appleby is but one example of our many clients who have proved that they do.
After a period in the armed forces after leaving school, Luke found himself unemployed for over 18 months, with only occasional casual jobs in fruit picking to keep him going. He lived at Pelverata, had difficulty finding reliable transport, and sometimes couldn’t even make his scheduled appointments with his Job Network provider, STEPS Employment and Training Solutions at Kingston.
Nevertheless, he insisted that he just wanted a job – any job – to make a start on turning his life around.
When Russell Stevens, the Divisional Manager at Mailhouse Tasmania in Glenorchy, approached STEPS to help him find a casual worker, we offered Luke the chance to apply.
Mailhouse Tasmania is a division of Oak Enterprises, an organisation dedicated to providing supported employment, training and lifestyle options for people with intellectual disabilities. Russell took Luke on as a casual at first, and he proved reliable and dedicated.
Gradually as Oak Enterprises developed its plan to install new technology to increase its bulk mail processing capacity, they also trained Luke in a range of skills that prepared him to take over responsibility, with one other worker, for operating their new bulk mail centre which opened last August .
Oak Enterprises trained Luke in communication skills, workplace supervision, fire and emergency procedures, and fork lift operation. He was appointed to permanent part-time, 45 hours per fortnight, operating the mailing equipment in the new centre, and supervising the work of employees with disabilities.
Luke relocated from Pelverata to Sandy Bay, from where he now cycles regularly to work. He is expecting to increase his hours soon to more than 52 per fortnight, with further growth as the business expands.
As Russell Stevens said: “Luke is proof that there are people who are only too willing to have a go, and will do their best to work their way up the ladder. As Oak has expanded the Mailhouse Tasmania bulk mail processing centre, Luke has grown with it. We expect that as the business continues to grow, Luke will increase his regular hours in this responsible position.”
“At the same time, he is also helping Oak Enterprises to further invest in the future for our other services to clients with disabilities. It’s really very much a ‘win-win’ situation,” Russell said.
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