2007 ARUNDEL

In 2007, GCSC became aware of the opportunity to obtain land at the Council Community Precinct at Arundel. The organisation was successful in obtaining funding from the Federal Government and built our training facility.

This facility today provides Vocational training in Aged Care, Business and Retail as well as some units of Engineering. We have created vegetable gardens for students and are developing a nursery facility again intending to create a social enterprise to enable our clients to work and be paid for their efforts.

In recent years Gold Coast Skill Centre Inc has been active in providing work experience activities to jobseeker to enable them to develop skills in the construction industry. Funded by the Queensland Government under the Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative more than 100 have participated in paid employment for the following projects:

 

ROTARY CHAPEL project on Southport Broadwater. (August 2015- February 2016)

In 1991 a small chapel was donated to the Gold Coast Hospital to provide bereaved families with a quiet non-denominational place for contemplation and prayer. With the closure of the Gold Coast Hospital, The Broadwater/Southport Rotary Club undertook a project to relocate the chapel to the Broadwater Parklands where it will be used for weddings and community functions.

Gold Coast Skill Centre worked closely with the club to create a work-skills traineeship project for 15 -20 participants to assist in the completion of external works on the building to greater enhance the chapel’s benefit to the community.

The Project provided 12 participants with the opportunity to undertake a traineeship in CPC10111 Certificate I in Construction. The Traineeship was built around the construction project to integrate the skills and embed the facets of employability skills. This provided Trainee’s with a “real world” introduction to the construction industry, its culture, workplace expectations and gain essential work health and safety knowledge, work organisation and planning skills, communication skills and the safe use of tools and materials.

Twelve participants were employed on the project with ten gaining a full qualification, two achieving some competencies and four finding full time employment.

RAILWAY STREET KINDERGARTEN project: (March 2016 – September 2016)

In late 2015, Gold Coast City Council offered the Gold Coast Community Legal Centre and Advice Bureau the opportunity to lease the unused Railway Street Kindergarten premises in Southport.

With funding from the Queensland Government, Gold Coast Skills Centre was able to offer fulltime employment to 15 jobseekers in a six-month traineeship to enable them to gain a Certificate 1 in Construction. This project was the most successful with nine participants obtaining employment, a 60% outcome. Thirteen participants also gained a Cert I in Construction qualification.

The building required changes in both the interior and exterior to make it suitable for the GC Community Legal Service with participants installing internal walls, converting areas into offices and completing extensive landscaping in the gardens.