News

Thanks to a grant from Sydney Motorway Corporation, Clean Force Property Services, a WISE Employment social enterprise, has been able to purchase new equipment for its commercial cleaning and grounds maintenance operations in western Sydney.

Clean Force is a multi-award winning social enterprise with a social purpose to provide employment for people with disability, including mental illness.

The grant will allow Clean Force, which operates around the M4 Motorway in western Sydney, to grow its services, resulting in the creation of more jobs for people needing an employment opportunity.

By having a second set of mowers, blowers, brush cutters and a trailer, Clean Force can establish another gardening crew and potentially employ a further four to six full-time employees.

This is strongly aligned with Sydney Motorway Corporation’s sustainability objectives of building skills, employment opportunities and economic development for communities along the WestConnex corridor.

“We believe that providing real employment with long-term prospects is the best way to transition unemployed people with disabilities into the workforce and increase personal confidence and capability,” said Jim Dinuccio, National Manager, WISE Social Enterprises.

Clean Force has been awarded the Human Resources Award 2014 in the Northern Business Achievement Awards (NBAA). The NBAA Awards recognise the business achievements of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the northern region of Melbourne, aiming to foster and encourage businesses in the region to achieve business excellence, growth and competitiveness. The NBAA are a partnership of industry, education, local and state government and decision makers across Melbourne’s north. The NBAA encompasses the Darebin, Whittlesea, Nillumbik, Yarra, Banyule, Hume and Moreland councils, with Clean Force having represented the City of Darebin.

An enduring commercially successful social enterprise that delivers significant employment benefits for disadvantaged people, including people with mental illness and people who have a disability, Clean Force has empowered over 200 workers towards independent living, inclusion and integration into all aspects of community.

Matthew Lambelle, CEO of WISE Employment, says that  being awarded the NBAA award  “is a credit to Clean Force’s management and employees’ tireless effort and passion for delivering an excellent cleaning service to its customers, providing quality jobs for its employees – many who have been excluded from work previously due to mental illness – and a ‘never giving up on anybody’ attitude.”

Clean Force managers Jim Dinuccio and Paul Fraser started Clean Force in 2001, and, from humble beginnings that included a mop, a bucket and one cleaner, have built a successful social enterprise.

“Clean Force is dedicated to its workforce and has an important role in the prevention of unemployment, and hardship of vulnerable people, especially those who experience severe and persistent mental illness,” says Matthew Lambelle. “The opportunities created by Clean Force optimise employees’ self-determination and career progression for an improved quality of life towards self-sufficiency.”