Parks and cafe crew

Being flexible, providing support and making sure work includes variety make staff at Nundah Community Enterprise Co-operative (NCEC) feel valued by their employer.

NCEC is a not-for-profit organisation that supports people with mental illness, learning difficulty or intellectual disability into meaningful, ongoing work.

It has a café and catering business at Nundah on Brisbane's northside and a parks and property maintenance team that works closely with the Brisbane City Council to maintain parks around the city.

Members of the parks crew meet up at the café for a coffee at the start of their day-and are usually in safety gear and ready to start work by 7am.

‘We know that sometimes we can be up and sometimes we can be down, but the parks always look really good,' says Iain Scott, the parks and property maintenance supervisor.

John Burgess, John Monson and Danny Thomas are members of the parks crew.  John Burgess previously worked at Bi Lo, John Monson has worked as a trolley collector and Danny has worked in other roles, but they all prefer their current jobs.

Before joining the crew, Danny was bored spending time at home and would often get lost in his thoughts. ‘Working keeps me amused,' he says. ‘It is better to get out and to clear your mind. At the end of the day, you do the best that you can and say "Good work fellas". You feel proud of yourself working as you are giving something back to the community.'

John Burgess says that he faces challenges at work, such as pressure to get tasks done by a certain time if the weather is poor. However, he likes working outside, as well as the friendships he has developed at work. ‘I like the people that I work with,' he says. ‘This is the best job that I have ever had.'

As well as working with the parks crew, John Monson does shifts alongside Michael Cherry at NCEC's café, the Espresso Train. John likes the variety of working two jobs, and has learnt an important life skill from helping out at the café. ‘I have learnt to cook better,' he says. ‘If I want to cook at home now I can.'

Michael also likes performing different tasks as a kitchen assistant. He can bake chocolate brownies and make sandwiches, and has learnt how to use a knife properly. ‘You learn different things here every day', he says.

He enjoys talking to customers, and there is another skill that he plans to learn. ‘I wouldn't mind learning how to make the perfect coffee,' he says.

Staff in the two businesses can purchase subsidised meals from the café after their shifts. They also participate in social and team-building activities organised by NCEC and the Community Living Association.