'STREAT' is one of Australia's most successful and innovative social enterprises and a fully registered charity.

It runs five cafés, a coffee roastery, an artisan bakery and a catering & functions business, but the only reason they exist is to help disadvantaged and homeless youth from Melbourne.

The eight businesses provide hospitality training and work experience for the young trainees and also 70% of STREAT’s funding – by consistently making and selling delicious food and coffee. The 30% short-fall is raised through marketing and philanthropic donations. This is now a major $1.5 million challenge, every year.

STREAT’s Youth Program team (5 people) provide trainees with full wrap-around life-skills training and health support across its intensive 20-week Main Course program. Over 70% graduate, with most going on to further education or their first job.

STREAT started in Federation Square in 2010 with two small food carts, 3 staff and 9 young trainees. It now has 70 staff, has served 2 million meals and coffees and helped over 1500 young people.

Ian’s 30-year bent for science, marketing, communications and business development led to a variety of senior roles in major organisations, including working at CSIRO with fellow scientist Rebecca Scott (who later became STREAT’s amazing co-founder and CEO). A desire to volunteer and do something about youth homelessness in 2008 turned into 3 years as Marketing and Events Director for The Salvation Army, which opened the door to joining Rebecca and the team at STREAT – 7 wonderful years ago!

• Sketching from observation enables telling the story of what was actually happening when doing the sketch.
• Living in the movement, sketching being concerned with the present moment, rather than the past or the future.
• Destressing; sketching helping to relieve stress.
• Raymond does about 400 sketches a year. He showed an inspiring video of how sketches led to the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre mural. This took about 110 hours to complete in October 2018. He has also incorporated his sketches into a Melbourne 2019 calendar with sketch pages able to be torn off and used as postcards. The proceeds from this go to Beekeeper Parade which raises money for children in Cambodia. Sketching helps to express opportunity and to expand thought by creativity.
  His design practice focuses on:
• Brand identity.
• Creative design.
• Web design and development.
• Creative logos (for example our opera on the Yarra brochure).
• He also conducts classes in sketching and can be contacted at Raymond.Lim@RayLCreative.com - telephone 0430 552 795.