Hunting ghosts for the dole

In what is surely one of the most untraditional Work for the Dole activities for the region to date, a local team is collecting and documenting the region’s spooky stories of the supernatural.

Haunted Illawarra is being run at Lake Illawarra PCYC by Wollongong City Employment Training (WCET) in conjunction with the Tongarra Museum Albion Park, with an aim to provide participants with a wide range of workplace skills.

WCET trainer Steve Fearnley, who came up with the idea for the program, said he hoped it would also uncover and document another side of the Illawarra’s history.

“I came up with the idea when I was just sitting round the table with friends,” Mr Fearnley said.

“I thought it was amazing how many people have ghost stories and I thought ‘this could be an oral history project.’”

Mr Fearnley, who has a fine arts background, said he aimed to run Work for the Dole programs that taught the required skills but were also interesting.

He has a history of running innovative Work for the Dole programs, including an award-winning program where participants wrote, produced and performed radio plays that were aired on Wollongong local radio.

“We have to fulfil the Work for the Dole criteria where certain office skills have to be taught, but I want to do it so it’s not tedious,” he said.

As part of the program, Mr Fearnley is calling on residents of the Illawarra to share their ghost stories.

“Anything really, from grandma’s haunted bed to the latest UFO sightings will be warmly received,” he said.

“I want to move the spooky capital of NSW to the Illawarra somewhere.”

Mr Fearnley said people were invited to send their stories through email, or contact Lake Illawarra PCYC for an appointment.

He said the recorded stories would then be compiled into book form and may later be broadcast on community radio.

For more information contact Mr Fearnley at hauntedillawarra@hotmail.com or by phone on 0431 680 102.