About ChewYings

Meet The Owners

Robert & Melinda Chewying

Robert and Melinda Chewying founded ChewYings in 1992, with barely $300 to start the business. Their determination, understanding of marginalised workers and Indigenous heritage encompass their business ethics and have resulted in a thriving business that benefits both their employees and their local community.

Robert has a passion for fishing, and along with his wife Melinda they lead a happy lifestyle with their two daughters in the rural town of Nowra.

Staff Profiles

Ben - Garden Maintenance

Ben specialises in plant identification, pest and disease control and lawn management. He is a very talented up and coming horticulturist, an all-rounder and very precise in his work. He has completed his HSC while working with ChewYings, holds a Certificate II in Horticulture - Parks & Gardens, and is currently completing Certificate III, which he finds challenging but says he is "working through the blocks well".

"I've gained a good range of experience and greatly expanded my skills while working for ChewYings. The staff are pleasant to work with and I have found Rob to be a fair boss." - Ben

James - Site Management

James has been managing the Protea Farm project over the last 5 months, he is self-motivated and a great worker, we can see a lot of potential in James as he develops his skills.

"I have worked with ChewYings for about 6 months now. I've always had an interest in horticulture, but this is the first time I have started to learn about it. I've been doing Certificate 2 in Horticulture this year at TAFE, which is going well and I'm learning a lot. I have a disability so I'm not too good at theory and paperwork because I'm a practical person. If you work in our industry you can be good at either." - James

Daniel - Site Management

Daniel is qualified in Certificate 11 in Horticulture, holds a Chemical Users Certificate, and has worked for ChewYings since 2001. His diligence and keenness to learn has advanced him to a property management role at our client's Tea Tree farm.

Daniel suffered major injuries at the age of 13 when he was knocked off his pushbike by a drunk driver in a van. He was in hospital for 1 month and had a plate inserted in his head, and operations on 2 broken legs. The resulting injuries caused him to suffer from epilepsy.

We met Daniel 6 years ago. He had been working part time in a sheltered workshop, in the lawn mowing and garden maintenance section. He was being paid $2.50 per hour for this work (supported wage). Daniel is self funded so was not receiving any government welfare payments.

Daniel started working for us on a casual basis 6 years ago. He was physically sick on many jobs for the first 6 months from anxiety. He stayed with us and built up his confidence and motivation to work in a "normal" job. We paid Daniel award wages (or above in some instances) for all the work he did.

Daniel's epilepsy caused some concern, and there were many times he could not work because of it. With encouragement and patience from CLH, but primarily because of his own determination to prove he was a worthwhile member of the community, he persevered and overcame his limitations. He has not had a seizure for over 2 years and he has now come off all medication (under his doctor's guidance). Both he and his doctor attribute this to his increased general health and self esteem.

Daniel now manages large properties for CLH. He manages other staff and his work ethic has been acknowledged by our clients on many occasions. Daniel is very proud of his work and the contribution he is able to make to the business and the community. The wage he earns from meaningful work means he can live more comfortably and independently.

Gary - Lawn & Garden Care Management

Gary is also qualified in Certificate 11 in Horticulture, holds a Chemical Users Certificate, and has worked for ChewYings since 2003. His loyalty to the business, coupled with his personable and hard working character have seen him become one of our main client-facing staff members and advanced him to a managerial role in the office as well as in the field.

We were introduced to Gary through a specialist employment agency 4 ½ years ago. He had been unemployed for 7 years since leaving school, apart from some very short periods of employment where he was deemed to be too "slow" to work. He was virtually illiterate, and very shy. He had very thick eye glasses and would not look at you when he spoke. He was very difficult to understand.

Gary started out working with Rob on push mowing jobs. He was slow to learn the job, and had a lot of trouble with edging as his thick glasses were difficult to wear with safety goggles. As he had not had a "proper" job before, he needed to be motivated and encouraged to come to work. He started out doing 1-2 jobs a week until his confidence grew.

After 2 years, Gary started to take on jobs of his own. He attended TAFE for 12 months with another staff member and gained his Certificate 11 in Horticulture with a lot of literacy help from the TAFE staff. This was the first course he had ever completed. He took on extra English classes to help his reading and writing skills.

As Gary's confidence grew, he started to take on more responsibility within the business. He has trained new staff, and actively participates in all the staff meetings and gatherings. He also now communicates directly with clients and gives CLH feedback regarding problems. He also now does quotation work so he is the first contact the potential customers have with CLH, and most quotes he prepares are successful.

If you would like to work for ChewYings Lawn & Horticulture, please read through our Employment section and send in your details.

Our Partners