A recent showcase event was held in Kempsey to celebrate the achievements of high school students in Port Macquarie and Kempsey who participated in the 2018 NSW Youth Frontiers Youth Mentoring Program.

At each event students presented their projects and reflected on their Youth Frontiers journey. Parents, school representatives, friends, and community members attended, along with Kempsey Shire representatives Councillor Anna Shields and General Manager Craig Milburn. Both Cr Shields and GM Craig Milburn enjoyed attending the celebration and have offered further support to the program for 2019.

This is the second year that Mid Coast Communities has delivered the Youth Frontiers program across the Mid North Coast, on behalf of YWCA Australia. YWCA Australia received funding from the NSW Department of Family and Community Services to deliver the program across the state. Youth Frontiers is a youth mentoring initiative delivered across a six-month period during school terms. Student mentees are carefully matched to volunteer mentors who provide the young person with 35 hours of mentoring.

A crucial part of the program is recruiting members of the community to be mentors for students. Mentors come from diverse backgrounds and are carefully screened. Through the mentoring relationship, mentors support young people to develop leadership skills and foster civic engagement. Mentors encourage positive choices, foster self-esteem, support academic achievement and encourage community participation.

Students who participated in the program experienced increased confidence, leadership and life skills. This year, students across the Mid North Coast worked on a range of community programs including: projects that encourage harmonious classroom environments by supporting different needs and developing relationships, increasing the awareness of the effects of bullying and how to access support, a girls-only self defense class aimed at empowering young women, an art group to help young women come together and express themselves, animal welfare awareness, and an in-school gaming group to help establish connections and build confidence.

Both mentors and mentees reported significant benefits from the program; a mentee’s mother commented on the fact that her son’s growth in confidence from the program had influenced all areas of his life, and a mentor reflected on their feeling of gratitude for being part of the program, and their lifting of spirits at seeing how much the students had advanced.

The Mid Coast Communities congratulates all students who have completed the program and who have inspired us with their ideas and projects. We would like to thank St Columba Anglican School, Melville High School, Kempsey High School, Macleay Vocational College, and all our mentors and other community stakeholders who have supported the students throughout the program.