Out-of-home specialist Adshel has announced it has partnered with anti-poverty community organisation the Brotherhood of St Laurence to implement a work experience program along with a supporting outdoor campaign to help disadvantaged youths secure employment and return to the workforce.

Launched earlier this month, Adshel and the Brotherhood of St Laurence created a new work experience program, with six participants joining Adshel’s Melbourne operations team for a workplace demonstration, tour and discussion about the different career paths Adshel employees have taken.

Two participants will be invited to join Adshel’s Melbourne for a week of work experience to gain a better understanding of how the business works and build confidence in a workplace environment, while undertaking meaningful and practical work experience.

To coincide with the program, Adshel is running a roadside campaign for the Brotherhood of St Laurence across bus shelters in both Victoria and the ACT.

With the slogan ‘Job hunter, not dole bludger’, the aim of the Brotherhood of St Laurence is to challenge the negative stereotypes often associated with unemployment.

Tony Nicholson, executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, said: “We know as a welfare agency that work experience is vital to help young people into employment. The exposure and opportunities being offered by Adshel in their business will be invaluable to young unemployed participants.

‘”Adshel has taken an extra step to show their support for our work in the community. The company’s pro bono support has enabled us to launch a striking roadside advertising campaign in Melbourne and Canberra to challenge inaccurate stereotypes of young unemployed people.

“The ‘Job hunter, not dole bludger’ campaign is a real bonus for our ongoing youth unemployment advocacy, and we thank Adshel for their support.”

Adshel people and performance director Franck Appleby said: “At Adshel, we are committed to our purpose of creating the smartest connections for our communities, and we’re thrilled to work in collaboration with the Brotherhood of St Laurence to be able to support disadvantaged young adults in Victoria and provide them with work experience opportunities that will hopefully have a positive impact on their lives.

“We are serious about making a positive contribution to the local communities we operate in each and every day, so we’re pleased to be able to roll out this initiative as a part of Adshel’s Diversity, Inclusion & Flexibility Program for 2017.”