Gala Event & Auction - Melbourne - Has Ended
DO Details
You are invited to attend a Gala Event & Auction
We need your help to raise funds for two charitable organisations that support the most vulnerable in our community.
Join us at a cocktail function - canapés and drinks provided.
Come and hear from the most passionate and dedicated individuals who make a difference in our society.
Special Guest Speakers
Father Bob Maguire
Founder of the Father Bob Maguire Foundation
And
Diane Carson
CEO, Gippsland Employment Skills Training Inc
Father Bob Maguire Foundation
The Father Bob Maguire Foundation is in the business of ending homelessness. We believe that if just one person is living homeless in Melbourne, we are failing as a society. Since 2003 the Father Bob Maguire Foundation has been working tirelessly to feed the hungry and house the homeless. The organisations which Father Bob started and kept going for more than two decades prior to The Father Bob Maguire Foundation are still running and are involved in valuable community work.
The Melbourne CBD has been one of the hotspots for runaways, disowned and unwanted young people since Father Bob began his outreach work in the late 1970’s.
These young people are vulnerable, at risk, and often cold, hungry and sleep deprived. The situation has changed little since those early days. Our StreetWorkers are out on across the city most nights of the week. They’re on-call and ready every day. The work of the street team is to identify people at risk, befriend them and refer them to the appropriate services. We’re not afraid to go where we are needed.
We visit young people in squats and other precarious living arrangements and work hard to find safer and supportive living environments for them. It’s the difference between helping people survive and helping them thrive. It is in all of our interests for all of our young people to thrive and look towards a brighter future. We provide mediation with the young persons family where possible. Ultimately we want to support clients to reconnect with their family and in the process, facilitate long term changes in their lives.
The Father Bob HopeMobile has been a 5 star restaurant on wheels catering to Melbourne’s most needy for more than a dozen years from the Melbourne CBD through to St Kilda. This isn’t your traditional soup kitchen, that is, old vegetable soup and stale bread. Our philosophy is that if you feed people good nutritious food, they will feel better physically, psychologically and emotionally. Our vans go out onto the dark streets and provide hope, empowerment and love. We seek to meet any urgent physical needs and be a friendly connection to all we meet. Our two vans currently feed more than 4,000 people a month at more than 10 sites across Melbourne. Thanks to generous support, we are having a third van equipped with full kitchen facilities to meet the growing needs in Melbourne.
Since 2011, the Foundation has been powered by partners who share our philosophy of care. With our partners we are preparing to expand and take this positive and supportive model to the Northern and Western suburbs.
Gippsland Employment Skills Training (GEST) Inc
GEST is a small registered training organisation based in Moe, in the Latrobe Valley. It is a community based organised that is run by a voluntary Committee of Management. GEST has been in existence for over 25 years, since starting as a youth employment scheme in the early 1990s; from this it developed into a Skillshare and then to the entity that it is today. During these years, GEST has delivered a wide range of employment and training programs to the community of the Latrobe Valley and its surrounding towns.
In addition to providing a limited scope of accredited training, GEST is also a Learn Local organisation that provides training for the Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE) sector. GEST also provides employment assistance through its Work and Learning Centre, (WLC) which is operated in partnership with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and funded by the Department of Human Services (DHS). The WLC as a pilot program, is one of only five WLCs in the state and the only one in Gippsland. It engages, but is not limited to, participants from the following groups: those who are highly disadvantaged; who are from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) or Koorie backgrounds; who are long term unemployed, disengaged from their community or those who may have a disability or are suffering from mental illness.
As part of its vision to empower its GEST’s clients to reach their full potential, GEST has developed three interconnected projects to provide real life work experience placements for its participants. These are:
- The Zest Café providing hospitality and retail training and a place for social interaction;
- The RRR Emporium (Recycle, Renew and Retail) repairs and restores donated furniture which is then available for sale to the public. The RRR Emporium aims to avoid waste going to landfill and offers good quality second hand furniture for those on a tight budget. Participants at RRR gain skills in furniture restoration, such as sanding, painting and staining, as well as having an opportunity to connect with others and
- The GEST community nursery Recycle, Regrow & Reconnect project.
It is GEST’s intention that these projects be converted into Social Enterprises that will provide paid work for its clients who find that accessing the mainstream labour market is not possible at this stage of their lives.
GEST provides training to community support workers through the Bridges Out of Poverty program, exposing participants to a range of diverse issues faced by those who experience poverty and extreme disadvantage within their community, the causes of poverty and the need for appropriate intervention strategies.
You can make a difference with your support.
If you'd like to make a donation to the Foundation, please visit http://www.fatherbobsfoundation.com.au/donate/
