City of Cockburn Parks Operations team members Kalid and Jayden have returned to their outdoor roles, keen to proudly continue making their mark in the community following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
They have enthusiastically returned to work in our local parks, with Kalid Hayden (19) among fellow team members who made regular contact with the City during the pandemic shutdown period, for news of when they could rejoin their teams and get back to the work they love.
The pair, graduates of Atwell College and Emmanuel Catholic College respectively, began working with Cockburn in December 2019 as part of a team of 19 City employees with BIZLINK as their Disability Support Provider.
Jayden Walley-Kaehne (18) loves operating the blower vac and raking the parks’ sandpits, and along with now being able to use a blower vac at home to help out in the garden, his job has given him the chance to make new friends and start saving for his first car.
Kalid completed a Certificate II in Horticulture at school and loves the feeling of satisfaction he gets from leaving a park clean and tidy, as part of the City’s busy litter pick up team.
City of Cockburn Human Resources Manager Cliff McKinley said the City’s BIZLINK staff members demonstrated the important role of the City’s Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, first adopted in 2007.
“The City aims to give people with disability equal opportunity to obtain and maintain employment with us,” Mr McKinley said.
“Cockburn has been actively employing people with disability for more than 16 years and we value the sense of purpose it provides both for these staff members and our City as an organisation. We continue to strive to be a leader in this area, in local government in WA.”
“About five per cent of the City’s overall staff identify as having a disability. Of our 19 BIZLINK clients, three are employed in the Executive Services area, 14 in Parks Operations, one in Procurement and an employee in Library Services who has been with us for more than 14 years.”
In 2019, the City was named the BIZLINK Employer of the Year in recognition of its support of inclusive employment of people with disability.
BIZLINK Managing Director Brian Park said he was pleased to partner with the City of Cockburn to provide Employment opportunities for people with a disability.
“Employment not only improves the quality of life for individuals but enhances their inclusion and participation in the broader community,” Mr Park said.