AMES staff, students and partners gathered this week to celebrate the success of the ACCOR Job Ready Refugee Pilot and the AMES Getting Ready for Work program.

More than 40 people, including senior Department of Employment staff and the CEOs of NESA and JA,  attended a lunch at the Global Café in Noble Park.

The café – in partnership with ACCOR, AMES and the Springvale Community and Aid Bureau – has helped migrants, refugees, young people and the long term unemployed gain valuable workplace skills.

The program has focused on the hospitality industry, providing the opportunity for students to learn safe food handling, catering, coffee making, customer service, kitchen stewarding, housekeeping and food and beverage handling.

AMES Contract and Operations Support Manager Samantha Halmoukos said the event was a wonderful celebration of the success of the programs.

“It was fantastic to get everyone involved in these programs together to thank them for their support,” Samantha said.

“The ACCOR program and AMES Getting Ready for Work program placed more than 40 clients into paid employment. This success was achieved because of the ongoing support of ACCOR Training Academy and the staff at the Global Café.

“Thank you Michael Hennig at ACCOR and Jenny Naylor at the Global Café for providing sustainable employment opportunities to our clients. We look forward to an exciting and continued relationship in 2014,” Samantha said.

For more information on this story, contact Samantha Halmoukos on: 9938 4225.