Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne Chris Russell, left and job supervisor David Martin, right, with Jason Green, Josh Bibby, Olivia Irwin, front; and Tristan Morris, Michael Sneddon, Aaron Desveaux, Ashlea Pearson and Geordy McDougal, back, who recently graduated from the National Green Jobs Corps project. 69631
By Emma Sun
CRANBOURNE’S Cameron Kerr was among a team of youths who recently graduated from Mission Australia’s National Green Jobs Corps project.
The 26-week environmental training program offered them a chance to get work experience, develop their skills and gain accredited training necessary for future employment.
The team did work such as tree planting, propagation and weed control at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and Sweet Water Creek Reserve in Frankston.
“Sweet Water Creek was all backfilled in with a lot of weeds so we replanted and cleaned everything up and made it look nice for the retirement people and the runners that jog through there,” Cameron, 19, said.
“At the Botanic Gardens we went around and cleaned up the areas, pulled out the weeds to make the entrances nice and clean.
“At the dam, we pulled out and planted different types of plants native to the area to vibrant it up.”
Cameron said he had a great time during the project and felt it was a great opportunity for him to gain valuable skills to get an apprenticeship in horticulture.
“I had an absolute blast – the two bosses we had were awesome and they explained everything well.
“If I could, I’d stay in the job forever but it was just a traineeship. It gave me a heads-up on what there is out there and there’s so much you can learn through the program.
“It was a good way for young people like myself to get job ready and get out there.”
