Vivid Work Crew is an Australian Disability Enterprise that offers paid, meaningful employment in a supported environment and are located in Echuca, Swan Hill and Kerang. Vivid Work Crew is made up of a team of Supported Employees and Supported Workers. Pete and Sophie are young Kyabram locals who are Supported Employees of Vivid Work Crew in Echuca. The overall goal is to build capacity, learn new skills and challenge one another and that is exactly what Pete and Sophie are doing here at Kyabram District Health Service (KDHS). With these overall goals, KDHS was excited to build a partnership with the Vivid Work Crew and have been lucky enough to have Pete and Sophie working onsite here. In their time working here at KDHS, they both expressed that they have grown in confidence and love working at KDHS – they certainly have a great attitude to work.

 The Partnership has grown over time, with the Work Crew initially starting with cleaning the offsite accommodation, which quickly then moved on to cleaning KDHS fleet cars. With the support of David, Vivid Area Coordinator, they complete a checklist of daily tasks that are required to be completed that day. Kylie who is employed by KDHS in Hotel Services reports that the work is always of a high standard and never needs a “check”. She visits them while they are working and highlights their positive attitude and how infectious their work ethic is. Pete always works with a smile.

Chris who is also employed at KDHS in the maintenance department works with David to allocate jobs for the Vivid Work Crew. They both feel that as the Vivid Supported Employees skill level develops that there will be an increase in tasks.

Sophie has recently completed Certificate 1 in Cleaning Operations, and now can “mentor” other employees undertaking the program.

Both Pete and Sophie travel to Echuca for work and have been involved with the Echuca Moama Bridge Project. As Kyabram locals though, they both enjoy their time working in their hometown. Both state how friendly the staff are here and that everyone is easy to work with. Pete has previously been a volunteer at KDHS but now is enjoying the paid employment opportunity, doing what he loves! Sophie had been an employee on the program for 4 years and in that time gained her driver licence. This has been a great benefit to KDHS as she assists with deliveries for the Monitoring@home service provided.

Vivid staff expressed their gratitude towards Kyabram District Health Service for the developed partnership and the opportunities provided for the Supported Employees. They have grown personally and it has been pivotal for these young, eager workers to enhance their independence and create a working environment that provides them with so many experiences and enjoyment.

The feeling is certainly mutual with KDHS benefiting from this partnership as the Work Crew bring with them so much enthusiasm, character and work ethic that the staff at KDHS value their new-made relationships.