Sydney Employment Development Service
Darren Lawrence
Darren Lawrence came to Sydney Employment Development Service (SEDS) in middle of 2006 via a referral from Woodville Community Services, Inc (WCSI) where he was a Transition to Work (TTW) program participant. His participation in a TTW program was coming to an end and the next step was to pursue employment options.
WCS Inc had arranged a work experience placement with Peninsula Holden Bankstown. At Peninsula Holden, Darren was given the opportunity to learn car cleaning and detailing. He had previously attended a TAFE (Cert I & II) course in car detailing where he learnt the basics.
The first priority for SEDS was to negotiate for paid employment. At that time Peninsula Holden was ready to offer Darren a part time job. Peninsula Holden was very supportive of
Darren in providing him the training to get the skills of a detailer.
The team at the detailing section has become fond of Darren and the news of him becoming a member was received with enthusiasm.
The first and biggest hurdle for Darren was getting to the workplace. He has never travelled by public transport before and was not used to handling money. SEDS provided travel training and once it was ascertained
that Darren can independently travel to the workplace, an employment contract would be offered.
SEDS developed and followed a travel training program – which included “shadowing”. The initial stage of the travel training was intensive. There were no direct buses or trains from where Darren lives to the dealership located at the corner of Edgar Street and Milperra Road in Bankstown. The other challenges include boarding the correct bus, paying the right fare and giving the signal to the driver to stop.
By September 2006 Peninsula Holden offered Darren part time employment working 6 hours per day and 3 days a week. After a few months in the job Peninsula Holden increased the offer to work 3 full days then later, Darren was offered full time employment. During these times SEDS continued to support Darren and Peninsula Holden, regularly visiting Darren at the workplace, talking to his co-workers and manager and resolving any issues.
Today Darren has become a permanent fixture at the detailing section of Peninsula.