General News
31 December, 2024
Grants support local youth
The Central Goldfields Shire Council has recieved two grants totalling $270,000 over the next three years for various youth programs within the shire.
The council are among 134 recipients of the Engage! and FReeZA grant programs for 2025-2027 which will continue to fund activities for people aged 12 to 25.
According to council youth worker Gemma Simpson the Engage! grant, which is $150,000 over the three year period, primarily covers the grants flagship program the Youth Council. The grant will also go to workshops and events to promote employment and learning pathways as well as health and wellbeing initiatives.
For example, in March this year, a careers expo that was attended by 320 kids was partly an Engage! initiative.
“We also have some scope in the Engage! budget to look at youth events. Particularly things led by youth councillors and other young people that are interested in the community,” Ms Simpson said.
Ms Simpson explained that FReeZA funding, which is $120,000 over the three years, has previously had an events focus. That will continue “to some extent” but going forward Ms Simpson said they hope to use this funding to offer creative arts programs to address a need voiced by young people in the community “for a long time”.
“We have listened to that feedback and we’ve put in to the State Government that we’d like to bring in more creative arts and creative practice development programs so that we can help our young artists locally actually develop their careers,” she said.
Central Goldfields Shire mayor Grace La Vella said recieving these grants is amazing for the shire and its youth.
“They are innovative, they are on top of everything, they are creative, and they care for their community. Very much care for their community,” she said.
“This helps promote, or gives a vehicle for them to utilise all their skills and their energy and their optimism.”
An ongoing obstacle, however, has been the lack of a permanent Youth Hub. While the Engage! and FReeZA funding is complimentary, but seperate to, the Youth Hub initiative Ms Simpson said that the challenge has been the lack of a specialised space for it locally which has caused further problems.
“Because of that we’ve been in temporary set ups sort of forever and moved around a lot,” she said.
Plans to conduct a feasibility study and design plans for a Central Goldfields Youth Hub have been carried forward to next year however the specific details aren’t yet known.
While the challenge of the Youth Hub continues, not having a permanent space didn’t stop former youth councillor Annabelle Price who will soon be school captain.
“I was never wanting to do school captain, I wanted to leave school, and then I worked with Gemma and other youth councillors and decided this is where I want to go. I want to have an impact,” she said.
Ms Price encourages her peers to take advantage of the programs this funding creates and to have a go.
“You’ve pushed yourself, you’ve done it, and you’ve put yourself in a position where other things come from it,” she said.