Report on Meeting 4786 held on Wednesday 6tyh May 2026

From Past President Bill:   In the absence of President Maurice, Past President Bill welcomed members to the meeting this evening.  Tonight our special guest is Greg Megaw, from Group Training Employment.  GTE are a local not-for-profit Group Training Organisation based in Mount Gambier and we will hear from Greg later.

Don’t forget that our meeting next week will be at the Bedford Industries facility on Attamurra Road, commencing at 4pm.  We will be having dinner afterwards at The South Eastern Hotel, instead of the RSL, as our normal meeting room will be occupied by a Lions Club special event.

The next re-use market BBQ will be on Wednesday 13th May, from 12.30 to 3.30pm.  Volunteers will be required next week.  The other re-use market in May is on Saturday 23rd. 

Our next  Bunnings BBQ will be on Saturday 4th July, followed by 3rd October and finally the 5th of December.

 Guest speaker — Greg Megaw

Group Training Employment are a local not-for-profit Group Training Organisation based in Mount Gambier and Naracoorte.  They service the entire South East and Limestone Coast      region and have two offices, located in Mount Gambier at 173 Commercial Street West and in Naracoorte at 17 Ormerod Street.  Greg is the General Manager.

GTE was formed in Mount Gambier back in 1985 with the aim of providing training and skills to young people, who then found homes as apprentices and trainees with local host employers.  The goal is to provide quality opportunities for employment and training of Apprentices and  Trainees in the Limestone Coast.  

The first intake of apprentices was in 1986, and these trainees  went on to become local          mechanics, plumbers, chefs and greenkeepers. Some of these apprentices have gone on to open their own thriving local businesses and become host employers, passing skills onto the next generation.

GTE was the first community-based apprenticeship scheme in South Australia, and to date they have assisted more than 3000 apprentices and trainees find employment and complete their training.

What is the role of GTE?  GTE assists businesses by taking care of the work associated with  employing an Apprentice or Trainee.  They find them, pay their wages, and handle Workcover, GTE coordinate their training and more. 

GTE currently employs over 300 Apprentices and Trainees in a wide variety of vocations,         including engineering, automotive, building, hospitality, agriculture, horticulture, clerical, retail and beauty industries.  You can find a GTE trainee in almost every field you can think of.