Do More Than Drink in Melbourne’s most socially conscious bars! On Sunday 2 December 2018, we launched our fourth Do More Than Drink campaign with incredible support from the Melbourne bar scene. The campaign will run from Sunday 2 – 9 December with 35 of Melbourne’s most socially conscious bars partnering with Scarf to help raise funds and awareness. Providing a solid excuse for a guilt-free drink with friends, Do More Than Drink invites Melbournians to get behind the campaign by visiting participating bars throughout 2 – 9 December and make a donation when they purchase a drink. The hospitality industry is also pledging its support with some of Melbourne’s favourite bars including Gerald’s Bar, Bar Liberty, The Moon, Bomba, The Lincoln, Stomping Ground Beer Hall, STARWARD Distillery, Mr West, Two Birds Brewing, Carwyn Cellars and Paradise Alley donating $1 from every drink sold on the final weekend of the campaign. . “Stomping Ground supports Scarf because we believe in looking after our local community, including young people from refugee backgrounds who deserve a leg up in finding a job. We think Scarf’s approach to training and mentoring in real restaurants is an awesome one, so we support them with sponsored product, through hosting dinners at our venue, and by signing up to Do More Than Drink two years in a row!” Justin Joiner, Stomping Ground Brewing Co. . The campaign also incorporates an optional work experience element that will see a number of bars including Mesa Verde, Mr Wow’s Emporium, The Rochester Hotel and Back Alley Sally’s offer work experience to Scarf graduate trainees, to further increase their skills, confidence and contacts in the industry. Background Scarf is an eight year old social enterprise which runs hospitality training programs for young people seeking protection and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Some groups of newly arrived migrants and most refugees are disproportionately at risk of unemployment with humanitarian migrants the highest of all migration categories at 43% (compared to a national average of 5.8%, ABS, Dec 2016). The young people who engage in Scarf programs face complex barriers to work including: English as a second, third or fourth language, lack of Australian work experience, lack of labour market knowledge, impacts of past trauma on health and wellbeing, low confidence and discrimination. To date, 208 young people have graduated from Scarf after engaging in training, mentoring and paid work experience. Seventy percent of Scarf trainees find employment within six months of graduating, at places like Garden State Hotel, Two Birds Brewing, Siglo, Atticus Finch and Cumulus Inc. Scarf has partnered with over 100 hospitality venues and Scarf Dinners have enjoyed patronage from over 14,500 diners since 2010. Scarf continues to advocate for fairer hiring practices in the hospitality industry through campaigns such as Do More Than Drink; following the 2016 campaign, 77% of participating bars said they were now more likely to hire someone from a refugee background.All money raised through the campaign, from the $1 per drink donations and customer donations, will go directly to funding Scarf’s training and mentoring programs, which are designed to grow the skills, confidence and employability of young people facing barriers to work.