Rob Brown, Chief Chance Creator at Fruit2Work has provided this story relating to Spend Social & Be inclusive
Please provide a brief background and some context:
Fruit2Work is a certified Social Enterprise that creates chances for people who have been impacted by the justice system through transitional employment. We deliver fresh fruit, milk, pantry staples and vending machine services to businesses across Melbourne and Geelong.
We have been operating for almost five years now and have transitioned 52 people into full time work and we are proud to say that not one of these people have gone back to prison.
The key is, after months of supported employment by Fruit2Work, our clients are job ready (we only provide staff if confident they are ready).
What steps did you take to make a change?
We joined GROW in July 2020 after reaching out through various contacts.
What was different after the change?
The collaboration with GROW by opening up the network in Geelong that we previously had no access to, has allowed us to increase our customer base which in turn means we can employ more justice clients wanting to re-enter their communities via work.
What was the outcome?
We already were working with Norris, John Holland and Kane Constructions who are GROW signatories. Norris have gone onto successfully employ a worker full time.
Since collaborating through GROW we now service Deakin Uni, Hanlon Industries, Watpac, Plan Group, Harwood Andrews & Spiire. GROW has recently introduced us to Hansen Yuncken, COGG, Decmil and SMEC.
As Elly Hanlon from Hanlon Industries agrees,
‘Engaging Fruit2work was such an easy decision for us to make; a simple change for us but resulting in a big impact for others. We had staff spending an hour a week organising fruit and milk, but not anymore. GROW actions don’t have to be complex to be meaningful.’
Photo:
Chief Chance Creator, Rob Brown from Fruit2Work
