By Casey Neill
Wallara welcomed Saints into its Dandenong learning space and taught the AFL players a thing or two about coffee and bath bombs.
The support service for adults with different abilities services the South-East and recently launched its Potter Learning Campus.
Wallara chief operating officer Taimi Clinch said the players helped to launch the service on Tuesday 13 February “and see what our clients were up to in learning life skills”.
She said a work education group asked the players – including captain Jarryn Geary – the hard questions about their career goals post-footy.
“They put the players on the spot,” Ms Clinch laughed.
“We had a St Kilda player making bath bombs with the craft group.
“His hands were too big and he broke it.
“There were lots of laughs and lots of selfies.”
She said the players engaged with one of their non-verbal clients and “had her smiling and high-fiving by the end”.
Ms Clinch said the Potter Learning Campus was about building life skills and continuing education for adults with disabilities when they left school.
There’s a focus on literacy, numeracy and cooking, and students head out into the community to practice their new skills.
“We’ve got a retail pop-up shop at Dandenong Plaza. The craft group will make the candles and different products to go in there for sale,” Ms Clinch said.
“They can go in there to work and learn retail skills.”
The shop also raises money for the charity.
The Saints also visited Wallara’s Baxter site, Sages Cottage Farm, as part of the AFL Community Camps initiative.
St Kilda’s executive management team rolled up its sleeves and built a community garden for Wallara clients to enjoy at the 38-acre inclusive community farm at the end of last year.
The playing group also visited more than 45 schools during the camp including Greater Dandenong’s Mt Hira College and Harrisfield, Silverton, Spring Parks, Springvale Rise, Yarraman Oaks, Chandler Park, Heatherhill and St Joseph’s primary schools.
