Supporter Spotlight - Cross Yarra Partnership

Supporter Spotlight - Cross Yarra Partnership
Jul 25, 2019

Cross Yarra Partnership (CYP) works with Jobs Victoria to employ priority jobseekers on the Metro Tunnel Project, Victoria’s biggest ever public transport project. CYP is a consortium comprising Lendlease Engineering, John Holland, Bouygues Construction and Capella Capital.

In 2017 CYP partnered with Whitelion to trial an administration traineeship program for young people with barriers to employment. By March 2018, Whitelion team assisted 11 young people to commence administration traineeships on the Cross Yarra Project.

A great story from this trial is Sian. Sian and her family did not have the financial resources to cover the costs of training and CYP were able to support Sian so that she didn’t miss out on the opportunity. Fast track six months to October 2018 and Sian had become an integral member of the communications team at CYP. Sian has even met the Victorian Premier – twice! Most importantly Sian is financially independent and has said to Whitelion on a number of occasions that she is living a life she never dreamed was available to her.

In her own words, Sian says "People told me that I was probably not going to get very far, so I felt like... I wasn’t going to go any further than where I was when I left school. I had a lot of struggle with finding and gaining employment. If you ever feel like you can’t get anywhere you need to stop telling yourself that, because anyone can do anything, you just need to focus on where you’re trying to go. Even if it’s just a little step like getting out of bed."

Helping Sian and 12 others is not the full extent of CYPs community investment through Whitelion. CYP staff support Whitelion’s Christmas giving program, and raise money during our annual Bail Out Campaign. CYP also have social enterprise Pouring for a Purpose on-site in North Melbourne, providing barista training and work experience for at risk young people.

To learn more about what CYP and their partnership “MetroHub” are doing to support Whitelion please visit here