“With a great deal of soul searching I now am compelled and driven to help this most 

worthwhile of ventures in whatever way I can…I now travel on a path more positive than I have known for nearly three years”

“Hello and good day to you,

My name is Norman Turner, I work and study with A Gesture in Sunshine West. Yesterday, Julie from A Gesture approached a teammate (Jay) and I at work and asked if we would like to participate in a video for a presentation to be used in a submission A Gesture is putting before Hume City Council. Jay is at least 35 years younger than me I think Julie wanted to include people at both ends of the age spectrum. We both agreed. An acquired brain injury and other disabilities have left me with slurred speech. Because of this I said I would participate in a limited way.

Isn’t it funny how our imagined security cloak called pride will not allow us to appear foolish and defective? Yes, I do have defects but I am no fool, at least my defects do not include prejudice and discrimination that I see in so many other people, employers included. When faced with those types to avoid conflict I tend to just shut up and recognise them for what they really are.

After a somewhat sleepless night with a great deal of soul searching I now am compelled and driven to help this most worthwhile of ventures in whatever way I can.

Pardon my communicating to you in writing, but this method allows me to confidently impart the message I wish to make.

Please allow me to let you know a bit about me and how I came to be involved with A Gesture and why their pursuits have become so much an important part of my life…”  Read more….

A Gesture has a new learning facility to help our students learn the skills required for warehouse operations!

Thanks to the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, we have completed construction on our new classroom at our training facility in Sunshine. Students will be able to use the space to study for their forklift training and warehousing certifications. We’re excited to have this new space, as our student population is constantly growing!

Thank you to the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation for making this progress possible! You can learn more about the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation at http://www.lmcf.org.au

A Gesture is honored to accept the SBAT Employer of the Year Award from Hume Whittlesea and Hume Valley School

We will be accepting the Hume Whittlesea VET/VCAL/SBAT Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 to accept the award

Congratulations to our team for this incredible recognition of your hard work and dedication!

Greg has been working with us since August, 2012. He plays a vital role in rescuing food from supermarkets to be later sorted at A Gesture, and delivering food hampers to those in need.

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Helping people like Greg to succeed with our passion, and we love to hear stories about the positive impact A Gesture has had on the community. For example, here’s a great article from The Wyndham Leader  .

A Gesture well worth making for charities

THE A Gesture company moves about 35 shopping trolleys of food to local charities every week.

The company, which delivers perishable food to 28 charities in Wyndham, Brimbank and Hume each week, has shifted about 190,400kg – 2300kg a week – since it was started in 2010.

It also trains people who are disabled or have been out of the work force for a long time in Certificate III in Warehousing.

The charities A Gesture distributes foods to include the Salvation Army Wyndham, the Holy Eucharist Parish, Brimbank Mens Shed and the Iramoo Community Centre.

Executive director Kevin Hall said most of the food came from SecondBite, which had a contract with Coles supermarkets to rescue unused food.

Mr Hall said A Gesture had trained 1123 students since 2010, with 81 per cent of them completing Certificate III and 71 per cent back in work.

Trainee Garry Clancy said the program was a new beginning for him and that it was a privilege to know what he was doing would help other people.

Trainee Cam Ha said the program had changed his life.

He said his English had improved and he had regained his confidence.

Duke of Ed allows young people to move beyond their comfort zones and gain a real sense of achievement and self confidence. It’s available to all and is about connecting and developing. It’s not a competition; it’s a marathon, not a sprint; it’s linked to key educational outcomes; it’s flexible, balanced, progressive…and FUN!

The Award is run in over 130 countries and allows all young people to design their own unique program of activities based around their individual passions and interests. Australians aged 14-25 can participate to  pursue Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. 

 EACH LEVEL OF THE AWARD HAS FOUR SECTIONS:

Physical Recreation | Break a sweat and improve physical fitness

Skill | Unleash talents and broaden abilities

Service | Connect with community and realise passions

Adventurous  Journey | Discover adventure and bond with others

…with an additional Section at Gold Level:

Residential Project | Broaden horizons and open eyes to the world

You can learn more about how you can participate by emailing us at info@agesture.org or visiting the Duke of Edinburg’s Award Website Page

See the article below to learn more information about our school-based traineeships allowing students to participate in the Duke of Ed Award. 

Article by Brimbank / Melton : Local Learning and Employment Network 

A GESTURE” SCHOOL BASED TRAINEESHIPS

The BMLLEN has facilitated the introduction of a School Based Traineeship program in Transport and Warehousing called “A Gesture” based in Sunshine.

“A Gesture” is a dynamic not-for-profit organisation that is committed to making a difference by working with Second Bite sourcing fresh nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributing it to people who are homeless, living in disadvantaged circumstances or experiencing food security issues within the community.  “A Gesture” also offers work experience and life skills for unemployed individuals to gain proficiency in warehousing and food logistics.  In a supportive and kinesthetic learning environment participants engage with a hands-on program that aims to create fundamental building blocks that spark personal growth to become job-ready.

Not only does “A Gesture” provide students with the opportunity to gain practical warehousing experience they give back to the community by sorting and distributing surplus food that would otherwise go to waste to local charities in the Brimbank and Melton areas.

Kevin Hall, the Program Manager of “A Gesture”, is delivering the program out of warehouse and training facilities in Somerville Road, Sunshine.  Recruitment of Years 10 and 11 students for the traineeships has begun for the Brimbank and Melton schools and traineeships are due to commence in July.

A Gesture directors Kevin Hall and Lam Tran accepting the Hume City Counsel Business Award!

We would like to thank the team at A Gesture. It’s you guys that have made A Gesture what it is today, your hard work and dedication has resulted in A Gesture receiving Hume City Council Business Awards 2012 – Corporate Social Responsibility Award! 

Not only have we received this positive feedback from the community, but the schools we work with have recognised the positive impact we have on their students as well! Just like this letter we received from Hume Valley School:

At A Gesture, we want nothing more than to see our students achieve their dreams, and our unemployed trainees get back into the jobs they love! Our focus is on creating a safe, friendly, and supportive learning environment with practical work experience in a real-world working warehouse.

We use a variety of learning techniques and training exercises taught by certified and experienced trainers.

We’re always updating and improving our training program, using ideas like our Professional Development Day for the training and warehouse staff at A Gesture. Trainers sit in the students chairs, being taught how to create an even better programme, together with professional development for our skills, educational support resources and ongoing integration with the warehouse activities.

It’s always a pleasure to hear about the success and positive improvements happening in our student’s lives. Like this letter sent by Fay Wise, the Careers Coordinator at Hume Secondary College!

I have to say that the A Gesture School Based Apprenticeships in Warehousing have been absolutely wonderful for our students. We have a very lively bunch of Year 11 VCAL students,  predominately boys who at the start of the program would have been fairly  unemployable, and I did explain to Kevin that he would have his work cut out for him when I sent his team 10 of them, 9 boys and 1 girl.

The students were extremely excited about this opportunity and while they loved it, the first few weeks were hectic for all concerned. The students were not used to all the rules and requirements of the workplace but Kevin and his inspiring team have held onto them and worked with them and we are having positive spin off back in the classroom. They want to be here, they have a sense of purpose and importance and this has translated into better social behaviour and self esteem.  Many workplaces would fire students at the first obstacle but the school/work place communication has been excellent and the students have responded to the ‘tough love’

I was really impressed when all the teachers and students had a report writing day and the only students working on this day were these 10. They sat in the foyer of the school waiting for their bus and not one of them complained that their peers had the day off!!!

A brilliant program that we should patent for all teenagers but particularly those at risk of disengaging.

 Thanks,

Fay

To find out more about our student and job seeker training programs, Contact Us