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Corrado comes from a sales engineering background in the compressed air industry in which he worked for around 30 years until he retired. However, Corrado is not one for sitting around and doing nothing, so after he retired he looked around for productive things to do with his free time.

Vic Roads had such a backlog of licence test applications after so many lockdowns that they were reaching out for additional licence testing officers. When Corrado heard about this he thought he would give it a try. As a result, he secured a six-month contract as a licence testing officer for Vic Roads. He worked as a licence testing officer at Bundoora and also spent time working at Box Hill.

Corrado also approached an Employment Services provider to check what options might be available. The job provider suggested he try volunteering and asked ‘what do you like doing?’. When Corrado replied ‘I like driving,’ volunteering with the L2P program was the obvious choice. Not only does Corrado bring his enthusiasm for driving to the program but also his valuable experience as a licence testing officer.

Corrado has been with the Banyule TAC L2P program for 18 months, and in that time, he has already mentored four students, all of whom successfully obtained their provisional licence. He is currently mentoring his fifth learner, a young man called Oliver.

Oliver moved out from his home and no longer had contact with his parents, consequently having no one to help him achieve the mandatory 120 hours. When he heard about the L2P program from people who host his current accommodation, he thought he should apply.

Oliver spent a month working with a professional driving instructor and was then matched with Corrado, excited about the opportunity to accumulate the 120 hours.

Corrado says that he doesn’t get the opportunity to meet a lot of young people except when he is sitting in the car next to them as part of this program. He really enjoys it because, ‘it gets me thinking differently than having to talk to adults all the time.’

His advice to potential volunteers is, ‘if you're looking to get a lot of self-satisfaction and meeting interesting people along the way, get involved in the L2P program.’