By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
HUMAN services organisation Encompass is planning a $1.3 million training facility at its rural property in Leopold.
The multi-purpose shared use training facility will include two new training rooms and a purpose-built training kitchen.
Called The Paddock, the facility will enable Encompass Community Services to increase its training services for the long-term unemployed and its National Disability Insurance Scheme clients.
Construction manager Baade Harbour Australia has already been engaged and tenders have been called.
Encompass has already raised half of the funds needed from charity Give Where You Live, Perpetual Trustee (Percy Baxter Trust) and Helen MacPherson Smith Trust.
A major fundraising event for the new facility will be held at Buckleys on 23 October, celebrating the organisation’s 30th anniversary.
Encompass farm co-ordinator Chris Evans said the new facility would open a world of opportunity for the organisation’s clients.
“It means we will be able to teach basic life skills so more people, such as those with mental health issues, can become more independent,” Mr Evans said.
“We have people often spending time traveling between the farm and Encompass in Pakington Street, Newtown.
“This means much less travel and more time spent on our projects.”
The three hectare farm also houses vegetable gardens which provide produce for Bellarine Peninsula customers including Flying Brick Cider Company, chickens coops and a hothouse.
The new facility would also be open to community use, Mr Evans said.
More information and tickets are available at encompass-cs.org.au.
