21 December 2009

Pact has partnered with work training provider Malcam Trust, helping the young people the trust supports to gain a variety of skills.

The Malcam Trust was set up in 1998 to meet the needs of at-risk young people in Dunedin. The new initiative with Pact has resulted in a maintenance and grounds team being set up from the trust for Pact properties (with an aim to have some Pact clients working alongside the trust’s youth people). A lot of work is being done at Pact’s new Dunedin campus at The Armitage in South Dunedin.

Funding is from the Ministry of Social Development's Community Max training scheme which has a goal of giving people aged from 16 to 24 some work skills.

Pact service development and quality assurance manager Glenn Murtagh says the partnership is a win-win situation for both organisations – the trust is able to provide training to give young people real-world work skills and Pact is able to get the maintenance and renovation work done along with providing opportunities for our clients.

He says Pact clients are being encouraged to help. He hopes their interaction with the young people might even get the youth thinking about support work as a career path, as well as help some friendships develop.

The initiative was mentioned at the Ministry of Social Development’s launch of its Annual Plan as an excellent example of partnership in the sector.