The Rotary Club of Cobar will take on the mantle of being a welcoming ambassador to three newcomers who are looking to relocate to work in Cobar.
Rotary is partnering with Work+Stay, a social impact driven recruitment and settlement enterprise that has a focus on regional Australia.
Work+Stay enterprise lead, Merenia Marin said they work under the banner of Settlement Services International (SSI) which has more than 20 years of experience in successfully delivering settlement and employment programs in regional NSW and Sydney.
“We create employment pathways and real connections for anyone to thrive in Regional Australia,” Mrs Marin told The Cobar Weekly.
“We currently have a focus on recruiting engineers, particularly civil engineers, to work in Local Government.”
Mrs Marin said they currently are looking to make three placements for Cobar Shire Council and were looking to appoint a Welcome Ambassador in Cobar.
“Welcoming Ambassadors are the eyes and ears on the ground for our Sydney-based settlement team,” Mrs Marin said.
The ambassadors make sure the newcomers are made to feel welcome in their new community, and help them to make the connections they need to give them the best chance of staying in the community long term.
She said having somebody who is willing to use their local knowledge and networks to help a newcomer settle in and feel included goes a long way to helping retain that worker in their community.
Well known local resident Gordon Hill, with his extensive community links, was approached by Council to take on the role of a Welcome Ambassador for Work+Stay.
Mr Hill said while the program sounded like a very good initiative, he was however unable to personally take on any more commitments.
He did however agree to discuss the project with his fellow Rotary Club of Cobar members.
Mr Hill said the club agreed to oversee the Welcoming Ambassador project which would be delivered by a subcommittee made up of interested Rotarians, “Friends of Rotary” and any interested community members who wanted to help out.
“I’m pleased to say we already have interest from Cobar Business Association president Sharon Harland, Cobar Shire Councillor Lillian Simpson and Catholic Church priest Fr Paul Finucane to be part of the program.
“We’d also welcome any other interested locals to join us in helping to welcome these new residents to town,” Mr Hill said.
The committee will now undergo a short online induction and get ready to welcome the three placements.
The Work+Stay program will continue to check-in and monitor the new placements for a number of weeks to ensure they are settling in to their new communities.
