COMMUNITY
PETER GOY - The FFV Cafe
After working as a mechanical engineer and owning his own restaurant, faith put Peter Goy in a job he never thought he would manage: running Football Federation of Victoria’s café at its State Football Centre in Darebin. It’s a job, he tells Andrew Bishara, that he loves.
Why leave engineering, it sounds like an important job?
“I worked as a engineer at Red Tulip chocolates and I kind of realised it wasn’t my line of work. I’m more of a people sort of person, so I got into the restaurant business. I used to run a Malaysian restaurant in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy for 24 years. Towards the last few years, it finally took its toll with the long hours and my family life suffered. Eventually I got out and have been here nearly 4 years.”
How did you arrive here, out of all the places?
“I came here by accident, I met a bloke by the name of Salv Carmus, who used to frequent my restaurant and he worked as a Development Officer for the FFV, and for some reason the subject of the canteen came up and he’s like, we need someone to run it, because the people that ran it, didn’t really do anything with it. So he got hold of Matt Usher of the FFV and we got into contact and they asked me to set the place up.”
What were your thoughts about the café when you arrived?
“I used to bring my son because he used to play for the NTC and there was nothing here to offer anyone. Being the State Football Centre, you would think it would be a community place; there would be a place where parents could drop their children off. You know, a place with a community feel?”
So it was rather wasted you could say?
“I sensed then, something should be done to offer the football community a meeting place, some good coffee and decent food. Also a safe haven for the football kids and a place for parents to relax and watch Foxtel or simply just a community place. The previous owners never really did anything to the place. Chairs, tables, couches, air-conditioning, Foxtel. I set it all up.”
Sounds like you wanted to add that community feel to the place?
“I’ve always loved community work because I used to work at the South Melbourne’s Boys Home and there were homeless kids.”
What made you want to help children?
“What made me want to work with them was that I’ve seen some parents, who actually drop their kids off at the home, kicked them out of the car and said, “Get out of my life”. There was an incident that really made my mind up about helping kids. Some years ago, a parent dropped a kid of maybe 12 or 13 years old, near the Boys Home, threw his bag on the street and told him to get out of his life for good! That incident left a lasting impression on me. So that made my mind up that I really wanted to do something to help children.”
I can see from your face that it’s the best part of the job?
“It’s the best thing I’ve done. To be able to help children, to guide them. You don’t really want to see kids going the wrong way, and becoming career criminals or wasting their life in society. So if I can actually help children, even two or three or four, and help them go the right direction, it’s a beautiful sense of achievement to help kids as they grow.”
Seems likes you’re dedicated to helping the children?
“How kids are raised and treated determines their future directions in life. We want them to grow up as responsible adults and in turn contribute to society in a very positive way. I have seen kids go off the rails when it can easily be avoided. Just a bit of TLC, some kind words and a hot chocolate can do wonders.”
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