No cash, no club ... no care?

LONGREACH’S community-owned Youth Club is set to close due to a lack of volunteers willing at the centre, combined with ongoing financial constraints.

Club president Glennis Ford and Longreach Shire Council youth development officer, Wendy Hunt, are keen to keep the centre open or see the building redeveloped, while the children and volunteers who love to work at, and visit, the centre are upset about the possible closure.

“The Longreach Youth Club is a drug and alcohol-free space where there is a caring adult to supervise the kids,” Ms Ford explained.

“Adults come second at the club and kids have right of way.
“There is no other space in Longreach like this.”

Shadae Lewis is one of many young people who believe the club is a great place to be.

“Kids can talk together and chill out instead of walking the streets,” she said.

“I think the club is a valuable and meaningful place for the youth of Longreach because of this.
“Without the club, they’ve got nowhere else to go and they’ve got nothing to do.
“Parents often hear their kids say that they’re bored, but imagine what they’ll say when the youth club closes down?”

Troy Vambael is another fan of the youth club and said that while in high school he used to go there every afternoon.

“We’d chill out, have fun together and organise events like discos,” he said.

“To close the place down now would be a big shame, and I don’t know where the kids will go as there is not much else to do in Longreach.”

Ms Ford said the committee had been discussing the club’s possible closure since 2003.

“However, no one has come forward to volunteer at the centre,” she said.

“We still haven’t got people to organise activities for the kids and we can’t fulfill their requirements any more.
“There needs to more than one person at the centre supervising the kids.
“And it really should be open 24 hours, seven-days-a-week.”

Shadae was also of the opinion that there were not enough parents and community members involved with the club.

“No one wants to get involved to help it look better,” she said.

“I hardly ever see any parents here, most of them think it’s just a waste of time and space.”

Ms Ford said youth clubs in Emerald, Biloela and Mount Isa were lucky enough to receive funding from the mining industry and had the advantage of many more members.

“These clubs are maintained by a population size which we don’t have,” she said.

Ms Hunt agreed and said that while there were a lot of ideas to help youth in the town, there were no extra volunteers to put these ideas in place.
“The volunteers at the centre are spread very thin and they all help out at many different places,” she said.

Ms Ford and Ms Hunt are very concerned that the lack of volunteers plus little financial assistance equal a town that no longer cares about its youth.

“If youth problems are an issue now, what will happen when there is no centre at all?” Ms Hunt said.

“What will be the impact on the town when there is no such place as a youth centre?” Ms Ford added.
“Will kids see this a sign that we don’t care anymore?
“The clubs has helped so many kids over the years, but realistically – if it is to survive - it needs a big injection of money and more volunteers.
“We now need to put this issue back out the community to inform them of the clubs’ probable demise if nothing is brought forward to the committee.”

The Longreach Youth Club committee plans to hold a meeting next month to instigate the proceedings of the club’s closure.