Back youth, council urged
BASS Coast Shire Council has been urged to fund a youth hub in Wonthaggi in the 2017-18 council budget.
The youth hub steering committee presented a budget submission to council last Wednesday, detailing the reasons to support local youth.
“It is important to young people that they have a safe place to relax where they are valued,” the steering committee’s Dr Penny Mitchell said.
“There are opportunities for it to be a social space, as well as a place to access services and offers for work experience.”
Dr Mitchell said the statistics are worrying in Bass Coast; 22 percent of young people require rental assistance, 10 percent have food insecurities, one in 10 suffers child abuse, and 23 percent are neither learning nor earning.
A location for the hub has been selected in Wonthaggi’s Graham Street. Council’s support would cover the rent, insurance and cost of utilities.
“Our youth are falling behind and these statistics will continue to deteriorate as the population grows,” Dr Mitchell said.
“We all have a responsibility to turn this situation around and try to make a difference. It’s not good enough to produce a new youth plan every five years.”
Dr Mitchell said Bass Coast also needs better access to youth workers on the ground.
YMCA’s Michael Feehan said and steering committee had been meeting every month since its inception in July 2016, demonstrating its passion to support young people.
“There’s almost a universal agreement that Wonthaggi needs a dedicated space for its youth,” he said.
“We are not trying to replicate or replace any existing organisations. What we want is to attract new resources to the area to collaborate with to help young people. Council has a rare opportunity as elected representatives to make a difference. The youth are our future, and we a ready to make this happen.”
Supporting youth: from left, youth hub steering committee’s Dr Penny Mitchell and Lisa Satchwell from Anglicare Victoria urged Bass Coast Shire Council to support a space for young people in Wonthaggi.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jun 14 2017. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
