Job seekers back to work with help of Op Shop opening

The Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation is helping local job seekers back into the workforce through their Job Ready Program at the new Op Shop which opened in Tom Price last week.

The shop is an initiative of the Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation and currently employs a paid activity supervisor and six jobseekers who operate the store while developing valuable employment skills.

It is the second Op Shop of its kind in the region, modelled on the AAC Op Shop in Newman which has experienced great success since opening in May.

AAC activity officer Jolene Burnett said the program at the Op Shop was developing volunteers’ skills and experience so they were ready to be employed full time in the community as jobs became available.

“Our job seekers have come in to set the shop up, put the furniture together, washed the clothes, and sorted donation boxes all before our grand opening on Monday,” she said.

“Working at the Op Shop teaches our staff literacy and numeracy skills, day to day operational activities like counting daily floats and how to interact with customers.

“This kind of experience is invaluable for building up retail opportunities for our jobseekers- our overall aim is to get our staff employed by local businesses.”

Ms Burnett said the AAC offered $7500 incentives for businesses that employed their jobseekers for a period of more than 26 weeks.

AAC employment pathway advisor Jodie Smith said the Op Shop had received overwhelming support from the community and across the region.

“We have received a truckload of items from as far as Perth and Exmouth and Port Hedland Vinnies have also been kind enough to send down donations,” she said.

“We sell anything from clothes, shoes, furniture, mattresses and electrical items of good quality, lots of the clothes we have received are almost brand new and still have the tags attached.

“We are will take all donations as long as items are in good working condition and all the proceeds get reinvested back into the Op Shop.”

The Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation OP shop is located on Boonderoo Rd, Tom Price.

For more information, please call Jodie Smith on 91881357 or visit http://ashburton.net.au/jobseekers