888/RMIT FORWARD bursaries

An opportunity to explore work, wellbeing and connection and freelance social care. Two bursaries providing support valued at $2,500 each from 888 Co-operative Causeway and FORWARD, The RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation.

Two bursaries are available as part of this project from the 888 Co-operative Causeway (the first co-operative co-working space in Victoria) and FORWARD (The RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation) that will offer two people the networks and resources to enable to them to conduct a self-directed project to explore one of these areas:

• work, wellbeing, and connection for people in mid-career
• new opportunities for freelancers working in social care.

You will explore one of these areas with the support of FORWARD and 888 who will provide both informal and curated professional networking and learning experiences.

Future of Work Bursary: work, wellbeing, and connection for people in mid-career

This bursary is designed for someone in mid-life who is ‘stuck’ professionally and faces barriers in making a fulfilling career transition. You will explore themes of work, wellbeing, and connection. FORWARD is exploring mid-life career experiences and will provide support for this work.

Social Care Bursary: exploring new opportunities for freelancers working in social care

This bursary is designed to enable someone to explore the phenomenon of independent contracting in social care. 888  member, the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) is working on the area of social care for people with a disability, aged care, and veterans and will support this work. The global trend towards the creation of union co-operatives could also be explored.

What do you get?

A bursary package of support valued at $2,500, including:

• A co-op desk space (at the 888 co-working space) and co-op membership for a year
• Access to the Kelvin Club for meetings and events for a year
• Learning and collaboration opportunities via the 888 and FORWARD.

What do you have to do?

We will ask you to provide a presentation and/or written summary of your work, or other materials, that show what you have explored during the bursary. You will need to fill out a member application form to become a member of 888. We will guide and support you through these processes.

There is no academic award or qualification attached to these bursaries and recipients are not RMIT students.

The bursaries commence in January 2022 and end in December 2023.

Applications

If you are interested in applying for these bursaries, please fill out the below form and provide a brief resume and note about which bursary interests you, and why and provide two contactable referees (one professional and one character). We will then organise a short meeting with you, online or in-person in Melbourne. You do not need to be resident in Melbourne to apply for these bursaries. Please apply by 16 December 2022.

In the tradition of the founders of the co-operative movement, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. The co-operative movement has a long and proud tradition of ‘open and voluntary membership’ which in the mid-1800s broke down walls of gender (women could vote in a co-operative before getting the vote in a general election) and religious discrimination; we therefore 888 and FORWARD welcome anyone to apply regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and age provided that you are able to take up the responsibilities of co-operative membership. Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community without exception.