Before we had to close our Carramea Community Resource Centre in March 2020 because of Covid, we provided over 100 customised volunteering placements at our Centre.
Some of these placements were taken up by retired people or people who just wanted to get out of their homes and work voluntarily in the community. Others were for job-seekers. About 20 job-seekers every year found employment – some within a month, others over a period of up to 2 years while they improved their English and built up their digital skills and self-confidence at our Centre.
Job-seekers included a wide range of people: people who had never worked at all; people who had experience of work but not in this country including highly qualified and experienced professional people; college-leavers and people seeking to return to work after child care, illness or redundancy.
Carramea tracked all the voluntary tasks and training completed by the volunteers and recorded their progress. This information was used to advise job-seekers on job applications and interviews and was used when Carramea provided references.
When Carramea closed the Centre to comply with Government guidance, things became more difficult and we replicated digitally whatever we could. We’re pleased to say that Carramea volunteers are still managing to gain employment in a range of jobs and professions.
With more than 20 voluntary organisations registered at our Centre, we are often able to obtain a 2nd in-house placement which provides additional opportunities and a valuable 2nd professional reference. After an initial placement with Carramea we sometimes manage to help volunteers gain a more career-specific placement in a specialised setting which leads to employment.
If you are seeking your first job or seeking re-employment, we encourage you to contact us and we will work together for as long as it takes for you to get a job. We look forward to hearing from you.
