from YAPRap February 2007 
by Isabel Seidel, YAPRap Feature Writer
The town of Berridale has a population of 800 people. It's located in the beautiful Snowy River Shire on the southern tablelands of NSW. Young people have opportunities to go skiing in the winter and bushwalking in the summer.
However, with a lack of public transport and activities for young people to do, the local young people of Berridale are working towards having their own youth space. They would like a youth centre in the town where youth activities can take place. An inspiring local young person, Hayley Redhead, has been actively helping and motivating the young people to work towards their goal of getting a youth centre.
How did this project begin?
Hayley, a final year Community Education student at the Uni of Canberra, has a keen interest and passion for youth issues. This led her to develop a research project that aimed to find out what the social and leisure needs were of young people living in Berridale aged 12-16.
Hayley ran a number of workshops to find out. To get the young people to come to the workshops Hayley had to do a lot of work 'promoting' the project. This involved being very 'creative' and doing things such as catching the local high school bus and handing out flyers about the project with lollypops to school students. The local radio station also promoted the project and Hayley was interviewed which was broadcasted throughout the shire. Hayley would always bring up the project whenever possible in the local community and conversations would take place in a variety of settings such as the local pub, cafes and shops.
How did the workshops take place?
The young people gave feedback to Hayley regarding where they would like to meet to hold the workshops. They chose a room in the local hotel in Berridale. Parents and the wider community were updated on the progress of the workshops. Young people were encouraged to talk freely about any youth issues and ideas they had for the town of Berridale. To encourage open discussions among the young people around 20 minutes was given to young people before the workshop to chat, eat and catch up with friends.
What was the outcome of the workshops?
Young people wanted a safe and youth friendly space to meet friends. A community information night was organised and held by the young people involved in the workshops. The aim was to inform the community about how the project was proceeding and that it was coming to an end and discuss ways in which the ideas and energy of the young people could be used in the future. The Mayor of the shire attended the evening and presented all young people with a certificate for participating in the workshops.
The young people's enthusiasm for getting their own space led them to approach Hayley to ask if they could continue to meet with her. The group currently meets with Hayley fortnightly on a Friday night 6pm - 8pm.
What's the aim of the Berridale youth group meeting?
The aim is to have a safe, youth friendly and comfortable place to meet friends and participate in fun activities. The group meets in the Merino room in the Berridale Inn.
The group is for young people aged 12-16 and around 10 to 25 young people attend each fortnight. The parents come and pick the young people up after the evening and sometimes Hayley may drive some of them home.
The activities the young people get involved in include - playing pool, playstation, table tennis, board games, pinball machine and listening to music. When it's warmer the group has a BBQs outdoors and sometimes plays outdoor sports.
Food is provided and recently the young people have been contributing $3 each for the food - however this is not compulsory.
How are the youth group approaching the issue of having their own youth space?
The youth group put in an expression of interest to the council for the old cottage in Berridale Park as they would like it for a youth centre. They designed petitions and gained a lot of community support. They are currently awaiting a response from the council. The youth group are now trying to get a community group to auspice them as they would like to start fundraising for a youth centre.
Hayley has been doing a wonderful job supporting the young people in their goal to get a youth centre and her uni research project is a positive example of how research can be used to help empower young people to tackle issues they are facing in their local community.
