Sages Cottage Farm - Inclusive Jobs Hub
A petition to support the funding request from Sages Cottage Farm to build their Inclusive Jobs Hub.
Sages Cottage Farm in my electorate of Flinders, is a brilliant, innovative, and unquestionably hardworking property that is owned and managed by Wallara – a leading disability support provider and a social change agency.
Since 2016, Wallara has provided life-changing pathways to employment for people with disability at the heritage-listed Sages Cottage Farm and Cafe.
Sages Cottage Farm caters for varied needs and provides a safe space for the development of skills that sit outside conventional employment pathways, including horticulture and hospitality.
Sages Cottage has been seeking State and Federal Government funding for their proposed Inclusive Jobs Hub, however this proposal and Wallara’s multifaceted services continue to fall outside of a particular portfolio, resulting in unsuccessful funding requests.
I was proud to have committed $750,000 in the lead up to the 2022 Federal election, but with a change of Government, this commitment was unable to be followed through.
The Inclusive Jobs Hub will double the training capacity of Sages Cottage Farm, which will also provide meeting rooms, activity rooms and administration space that will allow staff to vacate the heritage-listed cottage itself.
That heritage-listed cottage will then be used to house a gift shop, staffed by clients with disabilities, which will diversify the skills that can be taught at the farm.
The upgrade will double the farm’s training capacity, from 50 clients to 100 clients. It will also create a highly flexible space for our partner organisations, which in turn would create more engagement between those organisations, the Mornington Peninsula community and Wallara.
Wallara has already invested or committed $2 million of their own modest reserves to purchase the farm outright, and to upgrade the facilities to their present state.
Government funding would allow Sages Cottage to grow and provide invaluable resources for disability employment on the Mornington Peninsula and Greater Melbourne more broadly.
Sign the petition to show your support!
