TRANSCRIPT
“Hey Lawrence, how’d the fruit come alright this morning? Yes the fruit came nice and early. How do you reckon the bananas are going? Yeah the bananas are fine yes. They’ll be right to eat for tomorrow? They’ll be fine for tomorrow yeah. Ok perfect and the apples are good? Apples are nice.”
Lawrence is a warehouse manager busy setting up the day’s deliveries at a food store staffed by ex-prisoners in Melbourne’s west. It’s a routine task for the 45-year-old.
“I supervise up to 15 people, quality control. I mingle with the workers, know their story. I talk 'em through the day sometimes. I'm proud of being a part of a company that gives people chances, it’s part of the role I am in now.”
A son of migrants from Malta, Lawrence is among 130 workers so far employed by Fruit2work, a social enterprise and registered charity that helps ex-offenders transition back into the community.
“I love my job, yeah. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually happy again. As a warehouse manager, I take my job seriously and others around me take me seriously. So, there's a lot of respect here. At Fruit2Work, no one judges you, everyone's in the same boat. We've all been impacted by a justice system one way or another.”
Lawrence describes his job as a ‘second chance’ which followed several stints in prison. From his late 30’s, he says a growing addiction cost him his marriage … and his self-respect.
“The worst part of addiction for me was having no income, trying to find income to support my addiction and it left to me thieving. It was just simple as that. Towards the end I had no one. I chose to be homeless. I lived in my car, I lived on couches. It was a pretty dark time in my life – a dark place. It wasn't good, good feeling. I don't want to experience that again to be honest.”
Lawrence was most recently released in 2021 but, like many ex-offenders, he faced numerous barriers re-entering society.
“So, when I got out and I thought, look I've hit rock bottom, I can't go down any lower, I started looking for work - forklift drivers, delivery drivers. I just wanted a job. And I put out a few resumes and I made phone calls and yeah, I'll get back to ya. And I never heard from 'em.”
It’s a common problem that leads to a high rate of re-offending according to Rob Brown, Fruit2Work’s 'chief chance creator'.
“This recidivism re-offending [rate] in Australia - half the people released from jail this morning, they'll be back in jail in less than two years, half of them! That's one of the highest numbers in the developed world.”
Yet Mr Brown says Fruit2Work employees have a zero recidivism rate – so what’s the secret?
“We've worked hard at creating an organisation that doesn't judge people. There's no stigma, we do say we're going to do, we treat each other with respect. And we don't just say it, we do it every single day. We live in and we breathe it and we walk it. And that's actually quite hard to replicate.”
To mentor and train newly released workers, Mr Brown says Fruit2Work utilises lived experience -- including his own:
“I'm from Glasgow I had my own challenges when I was younger and somebody gave me a chance. And I was lucky enough to effectively end up running businesses all over the world. I would not have done that, had somebody not given me a chance. Because the reality is I'd either still be in jail or I'd be dead.”
This year, Fruit2Work will turn over around $8-million, and it’s growing quickly. It’s Melbourne warehouses already supply 14-hundred customers and there’s a new branch running in Brisbane. For operations manager Rick Young, that’s just the start.
“I really hope it does go nationwide because I think it's an area that is lacking with the system. What we do is we give hope that if you really want to have a crack, there is a place where you can come and you can get a job. It doesn't matter what you've done. And I think that is what needs to be all over the country.”
Fruit2Work is one of 600 certified social enterprises across Australia. These businesses tackle social problems and the number is growing rapidly, with turnover predicted to reach $5.5 billion by 2030. Tara Anderson is CEO of Social Traders which backs Fruit2Work.
“They have built the people that they're supporting into the delivery of their model. They're proving that they can solve a social problem by the number of people that are no longer offending by working with Fruit2Work. And they are an example of huge ambition of what social enterprise can do when it scales - starting small, growing interstate, growing every year and wanting to do more and more.”
For Lawrence, Fruit2Work is about much more than a job. It’s a doorway to a better life.
“I am really grateful for the opportunity, and the position I am in. You never know, I might go further in this company than warehouse manager. My personal goal to move forward is maybe one day buy a house.”
