1 week Ago By Jennie Curtin
When he got a letter telling him he had been nominated for an Order of Australia award, Martin Wren said: "I treated it like spam." or signup to continue reading Then when he got the official notification that he had received a medal for his services to people with a disability (OAM), he said: "I was thrilled, I truly was. I didn't expect to receive anything, it didn't even cross my mind truthfully.
" Mr Wren, from Leura, became interested in the disability sector nearly 40 years ago. For a couple of years he had been unwell and struggled to hold down a job. Then TAFE offered him a lifeline - part-time work teaching in the disability unit.
The experience gave him "a bit of a bug" for such work. Over time, he noticed some of his former students missing out on a chance for a job just because they had a disability. "They were going nowhere," he said.
He felt it made the TAFE training they had done "just a waste". Together with some co-workers and TAFE colleagues, in 1990 he started Nova Employment and this year clocks up 35 years as its CEO. They started small, with things like lawn mowing.
Today, each year Nova helps around 1,000 people with a disability get into the workforce. "It makes a genuine difference," he said. His other crowning achievement is the Focus on Ability short film festival, which he started about 17 years ago to highlight to students the achievements of people with a disability.
"They're not seen necessarily as being of equal worth and I thought what we need to do is help fellow students appreciate what a resource they have in their peers with a disability." That first year there were 12 five-minute films submitted. Then Mr Wren met award-winning Australian actress Paula Duncan who lent her expertise and made the whole thing "more professional", he said.
More than 4,100 films have now been made over the years and the festival has spread internationally with entries from countries around the world and special screenings held in such diverse places as Malawi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Thailand and New Zealand. Said Mr Wren: "I'm having a blast. It's such fun.
I meet wonderful people...
I am blessed with a group of individuals who are keen to make a difference to the life of people with a disability and who are prepared to go out of their way to help people." Nova's latest project is a cafe/restaurant on the site of the old Bon Ton restaurant in Leura to be mostly run by people with a disability. As to those who nominated him: "I am truly touched by the generosity of people who might think I was worthy," he said.
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