Former AMES student and new Bulldogs employee Amy Vy.

A former student from the 2014 Youth Program at St Albans has just been recruited by the Western Bulldogs as a part time Settlement Services Assistant.

Amy Vy will be helping to deliver the Western Bulldogs’ settlement services, primarily the youth settlement services activities, as well as ongoing sports activities with AMES through the CALDplay sports program.

The role compliments her current enrolment at Victoria University in Community Development Studies.

The West Hub is fortunate to have a very close relationship with the Western Bulldogs, who among other things organise an annual sporting program covering a variety of sports each year.

The 2015 CALDplay program will involve skill development workshops in Lawn Bowls, AFL, Badminton and Cricket with a focus on one sport each term.

Amy arrived in Australia five years ago from Vietnam. She was an active participant in the CALDplay program and when the opportunity arose, chose to join Spirit West’s CALD Young Women’s Program Leadership group.

She underwent leadership training and took part in the 12 week women’s health and wellbeing program. Following this Amy was offered a cadetship with the Western Bulldogs, providing support to the Club’s community arm.

The Western Bulldog’s Community Engagement Manager Kiemi Lai said Amy’s enthusiasm is infectious and that she is a great role model for other new arrivals.

”Her appointment is a great success story for the AMES/Western Bulldogs partnership,” Kiemi said.

“AMES has been really important for us in reaching out to local communities. AMES has helped us let young people who are new to Australia understand what we have to offer as an organisation,” she said.

“Amy is a great role model for emerging communities and what she has achieved shows that it doesn’t matter if you don’t know much about a particular sport if you have enthusiasm and the ability to just give it a go,” Kiemi said.

Amy says she loves her new job. “I love my role here and I love sport. I can play most sports but cricket and footy are a bit new to me,” she said.

“I’m enjoying running programs for young women that encourage physical activity and give people an understanding of their own health,” she said.