award winnersThe 2016 Community Work Partnerships Awards were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday 16 November to celebrate and recognise hundreds of community work based programs conducted across Victoria.

All programs provide opportunities for prisoners and offenders to engage in community work that otherwise would not be conducted in our local communities.

All programs nurture the rehabilitation of these people through hands on learning and accredited training leading to employment.

Out of nine categories, Jesuit Community College won five.  These are:

  1. Most Outstanding New Project – Cultivating Place and Cultivating People
  2. Projects Involving Diversity, Indigenous, or Age of Offenders or Prisoners – Healthy Pears
  3. Supervisor Award – Strutts Psyridis
  4. Revitalising Braybrook – Fix the Cycle Program
  5. Most Outstanding Location Based Project – Recycle, Reuse & Donate Woodwork Program

We also won two Best in Region awards that will be presented at a later date.

We were also nominated for :

  1. Education Institution/Educational Programs – Bully Zero Program
  2. Supervisor Award- Nathalie Tolbize Healthy Pears
  3. Best Ongoing partnership – Fix the Cycle

A special guest speaker, Donna Mark, spoke of her involvement in Stir the Pot.  Stir the Pot was delivered by our own Robyn Morrison back in 2013 in Dandenong to female offenders.

Donna spoke of her appreciation of Robyn and how this program got her back to living life, building her self-esteem, empowering her to volunteer at every opportunity. An opportunity came up to deliver training at the Dandenong Neighbourhood House which she took.  Donna now delivers training, guest speaks and is a marvellous example of how programs like ours can change people’s lives.

A special thank you to all for  the coordination, training and assessment, special, hardworking, passionate  and creative people that work for this wonderful organisation.