Young people help ‘Green’ the village
Another group of disadvantaged young people have graduated with flying colours from a program at Fairbridge Village.
In this case the colour was green - the latest graduates represent the last group in the Green Corps program. The team has worked on many projects at Fairbridge Village over six months, including river restoration activities, regeneration and revegetation the riparian and constructing an eco-hike trail.
Young people aged between 17 and 20 years go through a six-month traineeship program and receive a Conservation and Land Management certificate. The partnership between Green Corps and Fairbridge gave young people at risk the opportunity to learn skills in a real live work environment.
Fairbridge Environmental Manager Katrina Hill said the participants also learnt work ethics and gained a sense of accomplishment, which many had not experienced before. “The participants did invaluable work in helping preserve the diverse Fairbridge environment and heritage,” Ms Hill said.
The success of the program is already evident, with two participants moving on join the Alcoa and Fairbridge traineeship program and one to employment with the City of Mandurah. The Green Corps program is funded by the Federal Government and hosted by Greening Australia.