During the last Tailored Local Workshop in Halls Creek held in June, there was a lot of talk and excitement around the development and implementation of a Youth Hub that would work to actively engage youth of all ages and provide a safe and fun place for them to be.
Since then, this space is up and running on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3.30 pm after school until around 9.00pm.
This Hub is run predominantly by RSAS staff and supported by others from the school, Police, Youth Services and other stakeholders.
The Youth Hub provides activities such as movies, games, basketball, table tennis, pool and a safe and fun place to have a yarn and connect with people from their community, plus some healthy tucker too.
The record for attendance was 130 children which was the basket basket ball competition
night.
The Hub also has about 50 books donated for 5 to 15 year olds. Pencils, crayons, felt pens and paper that are popular with the young ones in particular for drawing, spelling and maths have also been donated.
All the events are children led and the Police Officer in Charge was surprised that the children organised the pool and table tennis games amongst themselves with little input from staff. Halls Creek staff are only involved for dispute resolution which is rare.
The movies are selected by the children from the range of movies on their hard drive and cartoons are the most popular.
Hotdogs may not be the healthiest food but are easy for the staff to prepare. You can’t get a
hotdog unless you wash your hands then you can make your own hotdog.
They are hoping to employ a youth worker in a few weeks to ensure the Youth Hub runs over the Christmas school holidays.