Ellie Cole - Graham transcript

Graham: He's actually the reason he's the motivation why I do what I do and why I'm passionate about it because I know how hard it is. So Graham Edwards, I'm north of early 50s. Role in APM, is a Community Engagement Consultant for the inner west, western Sydney and the Macarthur region.

Ellie: Tell me about your life at home, about your family.

Graham: The eldest has moved out, a young one is at home with us. He has a number of conditions which are a challenge for him. The main conditions at the moment that he has epilepsy, he has mid to low spectrum autistic, he has OCD, and can have anxiety on top of that as well. I give him a lot of credit for where he is and where he's going. The challenge we have now is to work out what his next pathways are.

Ellie: At what point did you get to in your career throughout finance, throughout working in the ADF Reserves where you decided that you wanted to step into this role and enable better lives?

Graham: I was working in the city predominantly for 30 odd years. And over the last sort of 10 years my hips basically started to fall apart. So the Reserves, I decided no, I'll pull the pin on that. I can't physically do the training. I can't do the activity levels. About eight years ago I was told you won't be walking in six months time.

Ellie: Oh really? So what was that like for you?

Graham: It was a bit. I would say confronting. It was a bit, “OK, hold my beer”.

Ellie: Yeah. OK.

Graham: I’m going to prove you wrong.

Ellie: Yeah.

Graham: And so I did.

Ellie: Do you think that your experience of what you've been through with your osteo issues and as well as your son and what his experiences have been like, do you think that has played a huge part in your role at APM?

Graham: He's actually the reason he's the motivation why I do what I do, and why I'm passionate about it because I know how hard it is. And so the motivation for getting out, for getting supports, for networking, for building this role is driven largely by him and his experiences as to how he's found to face these challenges over the last couple of years.

Ellie: Working for APM, how has it felt for you over the last two years that you've been there?

Graham: The hardest part I found was dealing with a lot of negative attitude. And it's more so because of what they're going through day in, day out, and you empathise with them and say, “Look, okay, I get where you're up to, but what can we do?” You know, let's try and make progress, even if it's just one thing at a time. We're not expecting leaps and bounds, but if you can come in and we can make that little progress every single time, then I think we're doing the job properly. It's giving someone confidence to believe in themselves and show their abilities, and this is a challenge I know that the consultants do day in, day out when they're dealing with people, dealing with employers and saying, look, give the person an opportunity to show what their abilities actually are, because everybody has skills and abilities. It's one, it’s understanding them and two, getting other people, giving them the option to actually demonstrate what they can do. They just need that first person to say, “Yes, hey, everybody has abilities”. We need to try and understand what they are and then how to utilise them in an environment that you want to be in, that you want to work in and grow in.