transitional employment

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Happy One Year Anniversary Nathan

Nathan's Journey to Sustainable Employment and Personal Growth with Good Cycles

Nathan, a high school graduate, struggled to find sustainable work. After leaving high school, he was in a vicious cycle of inconsistent work and an unstable income. Determined to work and make himself more employable, he tried extra study and working in different industries, but Nathan’s struggle continued and still faced barriers to employment . His life took a positive turn when he joined Good Cycles in our Open Spaces division.

Welcome to Good Cycles

In June of last year, Nathan learned about Good Cycles through Djerriwarrh, an employment support organisation that helped Nathan refine his CV and introduced him to our Open Spaces team. Through Open Spaces, Good Cycles created a range of new gardening and mowing job opportunities and welcomed Nathan for an interview. From the get-go, our “relaxed and welcoming” interview process made him feel at ease, and Nathan was offered a gardening role at Good Cycles, joining our Youth Employment Program.

Social Impact via the Youth Employment Program

Our Youth Employment Program is designed to support people in Nathan’s position with coaching and skills development alongside real-world work experience. One of the key aspects of the program is Nathan’s weekly check-ins with Jordan – one of Good Cycles’ youth employment coaches. These sessions allow Jordan and Nathan to set work goals and then apply the relevant training or coaching required. Currently, Jordan is supporting Nathan’s application for a Cert III in Horticulture at Kangan Institute.

"(Working at Good Cycles has) not only provided me with a stable source of income but also a sense of purpose and personal growth”.

Nathan, Good Cycles Open Spaces team member

12 Months On

Maintaining employment for 6 months is a significant milestone for people who have faced barriers to employment. In June 2023, we’re proud to celebrate Nathan’s one year anniversary with Good Cycles. His team members have seen growth in his communication and teamwork skills and have also witnessed his personal efforts to develop consistent routines. Through his commitment, Nathan has found independence, financial stability, and the means to “treat himself”.

Nathan hopes to continue his career with the gardening team at Good Cycles and work towards operating large machinery such as mowers and tractors.

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Sustainable Employment

Nathan’s journey to sustainable employment with Good Cycles highlights the importance of creating meaningful jobs within a safe and inclusive workplace. Nathan has acquired new skills, certifications and more importantly, a sense of belonging. He added that his experience with the team and Jordan has “provided him with a stable source of income and a sense of purpose and personal growth”.

Nathan’s dedication to his job has not gone unnoticed. His manager, Brett, has praised him for his reliability, for never being late to work, and for never missing a day since he started.

“I love my job with Good Cycles, it has allowed me to see myself in the future and gain the qualifications needed to get there.” ~ Nathan

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Good Cycles delivers its 2022 Impact Report

Good Cycles Impact Snapshot 2022: Creating Positive Change

We are thrilled to share our Impact Snapshot for 2022. Despite the challenges that we all faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, we remained steadfast in our mission to reduce barriers to employment and have managed strong growth to create more job opportunities and impact than ever.

Youth Employment Program (YEP): Empowering 36 Young People

It was a big year for our Youth Employment Program (YEP) with over 23,000 hours of work conducted across 36 YEP participants.

Our YEP provides individual coaching support, skills development and training, and real-world work experience to young people facing barriers to employment, such as insecure housing, mental health challenges, and other forms of socioeconomic and socio-cultural disadvantage.

Our impact data shows how we are able to empower a diverse group of young individuals by unlocking aspirations and supporting them in their transition toward secure employment pathways

See our Impact report online, or click below to download the report:

Download report

Of course, we can only do this thanks to our amazing staff and our commercial, philanthropic, academic and governmental partners who support us in our commitment to impact and social enterprise.

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Good Cycles helps launch ‘The Purpose Precinct’ at Queen Vic Market: A new home for 20+ local social enterprises

Good Cycles is proud to partner with the Queen Victoria Market and STREAT to help create 'The Purpose Precinct' – a showcase of Victorian social enterprise products and services located in the Market’s String Bean Alley.

With the backing of the Victorian Government and Social Enterprise Network of Victoria, The Purpose Precinct brings together a range of unique products and services from over 20 Victorian social enterprises such as Clothing the Gaps and HoMie, with many more to come.

Alongside a select range of Good Cycles’ bicycle products, is a curated and rotating range of goods all made, designed and/or recycled from sustainably and ethically sourced materials; including homewares, preserves and other non-perishable food, home-growing supplies, clothing and accessories. Good Cycles will also offer bicycle servicing in the near future.

Queen Victoria Market CEO Stan Liacos says the Market is proud to partner with Good Cycles and STREAT, which sits well with the Market’s history and future plans.

“Throughout its 140-year history, Queen Victoria Market has provided access to essential fresh food, goods and services to Melburnians, as well as being an important part of the city’s social fabric. The Purpose Precinct brings a unique mix of quality products and services, helping to achieve our goal to diversify the Market’s offerings to appeal to Melburnians and contribute to positive economic and social outcomes,” he said.

“Throughout its 140-year history, Queen Victoria Market has provided access to essential fresh food, goods and services to Melburnians, as well as being an important part of the city’s social fabric. The Purpose Precinct brings a unique mix of quality products and services, helping to achieve our goal to diversify the Market’s offerings to appeal to Melburnians and contribute to positive economic and social outcomes.”

Stan Liacos, Queen Victoria Market CEO

“We’re excited to call Queen Victoria Market our new home. The Purpose Precinct will create a front door for social enterprises to work together to engage the community and deliver products and services to help people, places and the planet to thrive. Our ambition is to see hundreds of Victorian social enterprises represented in the Precinct over the coming years, all working together not only to create better cities, but also meaningful employment opportunities for Victorians.”

Jaison Hoernel, Good Cycles CEO

STREAT CEO Rebecca Scott says many of Victoria’s social enterprises create employment opportunities for people who face structural barriers to work.

“The Purpose Precinct will showcase products and services being made in all corners of the state, and we’re excited for people to have a taste of the delicious things the sector has to offer.”

Good Cycles CEO Jaison Hoernel says the team is thrilled to be part of the Market’s diverse and thriving culture.

“We’re excited to call Queen Victoria Market our new home. The Purpose Precinct will create a front door for social enterprises to work together to engage the community and deliver products and services to help people, places and the planet to thrive.

“Our ambition is to see hundreds of Victorian social enterprises represented in the Precinct over the coming years, all working together not only to create better cities, but also meaningful employment opportunities for Victorians.”

 

Social Enterprise and Not for Profit participants of the Precinct include:

 

We would like to show our deepest gratitude to all those people that helped make this happen, in particular The Queen Victoria Market, the Victorian Government, STREAT, SENVic and an extra special mention to Silas and our hard-working Good Cycles staff. It’s an exciting time for social enterprise and we can’t wait to see you down at String Bean Alley to support everyone involved.

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Wear it Purple Day 2022 at Good Cycles

The day itself is all about creating safe, empowering and inclusive environments for LGBTQI+ young people. This is especially important in the workplace, particularly where people may have had negative experiences, or not feel they were able to be themselves for fear of judgment or discrimination.

Kirra (Head of Innovation and Impact) with Jaison (CEO) and Mihai and Ivan from our Operations team
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WIPD2022 in full effect!

The events, which also marked the commencement of work on Good Cycles’ Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, were attended by approximately 60 staff and a great time was had by all.

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Darren’s experience with Good Cycles

Right from the get-go, Darren showed a high level of resourcefulness, determination and negotiation; his enthusiasm when performing his various tasks and a natural aptitude for problem solving became a source of motivation for others, “People talk to me and they tell me “How do you solve those problems so quickly?”… Being able to think both inside and outside the box [is key].”

Through his experience at Good Cycles, Darren was able to improve and strengthen his communication and teamwork skills. Darren noted that he “used to avoid teamwork but now I’m comfortable during shifts… Communication and keeping in contact with people so they know what is going on is a big thing.”

Another big thing for Darren was the chance to be given opportunities to build personal and professional connections particularly at Citywide. In fact, one of his professional goals was to move to Citywide into a permanent position there. Darren noted that, when he was able to work at the Citywide-operated Degraves Street Recycling facility during his time at Good Cycles, he was able to make both personal and professional connections:

They assisted me in that they provided a comfortable working space which – for me – is one of the biggest things. The training they provided was sufficient for me [too].

After making use of the skills, networks and experience he gained in working shifts at the Facility, he successfully achieved his goal and moved into a permanent position at Citywide in December 2021.

Quality time with his children and family is particularly important for Darren: Darren was able to “spend more time with my kids and family” through the flexible shift structures at Good Cycles. More significantly, being employed meant being able to afford more secure housing and provide financially for his young family. Through the job security that came with working at Good Cycles, Darren was able to make huge progress in achieving his twin life goals of “a good home for my family” and “kids growing up healthy and happy”.