A group of talented and hardworking TAFE NSW students will help raise important funds for Cowra Information and Neighbourhood Centre (CINC), while learning important life skills.

As part of the The Youth Employment Strategy (YES) Program, which introduces disengaged and vulnerable high school students to vocational education and training, 11 Cowra High School students have constructed two dog kennels that will be used as prizes in a CINC raffle to raise money for victims of domestic violence.

TAFE NSW Foundation Skills Teacher, Robyn White, said, “The students were tasked with doing something positive for a local, non-for-profit community organisation and they decided to help CINC because of the great work they do in helping our local Cowra community,” she said.

“The contemporary construction workshop at TAFE NSW Cowra is buzzing with a growing number of apprentices from the region. With the Australian Government Jobs Outlook website predicting more than 38,000 new builder’s labourers positions to be available until 2023, it made sense to give the students a taste test of the booming construction industry.

“Throughout the seven week program, the students were exposed to hands-on experiences working in hospitality, automotive, early childhood education and animal studies.

“The YES program teaches the students important, real-world employment skills such as teamwork, collaboration, innovation, planning, preparation, decision making and other valuable work skills including literacy and numeracy.

“It also gives them the opportunity to experience the range of life-changing course options available at TAFE NSW that can equip them with the practical skills they need to pursue employment opportunities.”

CINC CEO Fran Stead added, “We are very grateful that the students thought the CINC was a worthy choice for the dog kennels - it is always very uplifting when members of our community want to help us.

“When we do a small acts of kindness, it can lead to massive change and we can’t thank these wonderfully talented TAFE NSW students enough.”

The dog kennels will be raffled by the CINC from December 6.

For more information about the range of Semester 1, 2020 courses at TAFE NSW Cowra, visit tafensw.edu.au or phone 131 601.

Media contact: Luke Schuyler, TAFE NSW Media and Communications Business Partner, 0439 536 563.