By Alesha Capone
Inside Fruit2Work’s factory, a group of workers in high-vis vests chat and laugh with each other while they pack fruit into cardboard boxes and load vans.
The Laverton North site looks like any other workplace, but Fruit2Work is a social enterprise run by youth charity Whitelion, which gives people who have served time in jail a chance to gain work experience and skills through employment.
Fruit2Work’s operations manager Simon Fenech said the organisation was the only one of its type in the world – that is, a social enterprise run entirely by people who have spent time in jail.
“It’s not just a job, it’s a purpose,” Mr Fenech said.
“Any employer, once they know you’ve got a criminal record, the door is closed – whereas Fruit2Work is about making opportunities and a second chance.”
Mr Fenech said Fruit2Work started two-and-a-half years ago as “two guys in the back of a station wagon selling 40 boxes of fruit a week”.
“We now employ 14 people, have six vehicles and our own factory and sell approximately 800 to 1000 boxes of fruit per week, and 5000 litres of milk,” he said.
“In 2.5 years, we have had a 100 per cent success rate, nobody has gone back to jail and as for the feedback we’re getting, people are saying it’s absolutely life-changing.”
Details: www.fruit2work.com.au
