Mike is CEO of local organization Noweyung.  He described three of the many facets of Noweyung, which provide employment and training for some of our mentally and physically disabled locals - Banksia Fine Foods, Ace Garden Maintenance and Cells Cafe.
Noweyung was established in 1954, the year the Bulldogs won their next-to-last premiership.  Two local teenagers, Lesley and Alison were the first clients and are still strongly supported by Noweyung.
 
Noweyung runs three main enterprises:
 
Ace Garden Maintenance– has 5 teams of workers, each with a qualified supervisor with great knowledge, and an approach that melds the team members.  They provide garden maintenance from Morwell to Cann River. Team members are all on disability pensions for varying reasons, mostly learning and intellectual disabilities. They need a sense of belonging. and value, and want to be paid, as do we all.  Supervisors provide a realistic working environment, with no passengers, but the jobs also have more flexible requirements of the workers than in mainstream employment.  
 
Most of Ace’s work is for corporations eg DHHS to mow lawns in public houses.  They have to tender for the work, and have a good reputation and track record over 14 years. Real estate agents and other companies also use their services.
 
Banksia Fine Foods– started as Gippsand Corporate Gifts, but Mike now concentrates on selling the delicious jams and preserves in outlets locally and further afield.
 
Banksia Fine Foods has 7 employees and a supervisor, and operates from the commercial kitchen at Cells Café.  One of Mike’s initiatives has been to switch from imported frozen ingredients to those that can be sourced locally – a great move considering we live in one of the food production bowls of Victoria.
Banksia Fine Foods does some catering – a few of our Rotary members and partners are on the Noweyung board, and can recommend the lamb shanks!
 
Client’s abilities are assessed by an external body, Disability Enterprises, and their wages are determined according to ability. Some are on normal minimal wages.
 
Cells Caféis a social enterprise, so the 3-5 people with disabilities employed there are on normal wages.  Several have gone off to employment in other cafes, which is a huge achievement. Cells provides work experience and training.  
 
Council gifted the building, and State and Federal Government funding went into its refurbishment, as well as $400,000 from Noweyung.  Mike has introduced a lot of information about Noweyung into the cafe, with stories and paintings.  The tables are most attractive, with paintings from the Colour Gang laminated onto them.  Unfortunately, it loses around $3000 a month, but it does achieve its aims of giving employment and training to clients who would otherwise have neither.
 
Changes are needed, with most of the seating outdoors, and unusable in the very hot and very cold weather.  Mike is currently canvassing for ideas on how it could be improved.
 
Overall, Noweyung helps 185 disabled clients, with a maximum or 35 participants in enterprises at present, but this will increase as NDIS funding comes to our area, and give much more choice of activities for the clients of Noweyung.
 
Geoff thanked Mike for his talk, and the great work that Noweyung is doing.