Calling tweens and teens

Every Wednesday, the snacks are out, the pool table is cleared and the boardgames are waiting. Now all that’s needed is the crowd.

Not-for-profit Careways re-launched its free after-school drop-in program for 10- to 16-year-olds at Thirroul Community Centre at the start of the 2022 school year. Last month, the hosts were still waiting for any students to turn up.

“We haven’t had one this year – not even one,” says Kate Stewart, Careways youth and community programs officer.

“This week we actually planned to have a Star Wars trivia because it fell on May the 4th. So we had a whole Star Wars trivia planned, with prizes to win and everything.”

The program is held at Thirroul Neighbourhood Centre, which is inside the library and community centre building, from 2.30-5pm each Wednesday, and there are a lot of activities on offer.

“We have a pool table, video games, we have board games and card games, all sorts of activities the kids can choose from,” Kate says.

“Basically it’s a safe place for kids to come hang out and meet others and have some fun.

“We also have youth workers on site. We’re happy to help with homework or any kind of support, answer any questions, especially about those tricky teenage issues that maybe the kids don’t want to talk to their parents about.

“We provide afternoon tea so they can come and get something to eat. It’s totally free.”

The two youth workers hosting the program are Kate and her colleague, Georgia Ohrdorf, Careways community program officer.

“We’re both in our twenties,” Kate says. “We both studied public health at university. We’ve both been at Careways a bit over a year now.

“I run a similar drop-in at Dapto. We have a larger presence there. A lot of the kids that we work with in Dapto come from challenging family situations and they need someone to talk to, a bit of support.

“I love to be able to provide a safe place for them to come and to chat and get some help and some guidance from another adult in their life. If they’re not comfortable talking to their parents about certain issues, I like to be that ear for them. That’s my favourite part about the job.

“[Thirroul] is a different demographic but, you know, all kids deserve the same opportunities.

“I’m just trying hard to figure out why it’s so popular out there [in Dapto] and why it’s not getting any interest out here.”

To attract local kids, Kate has changed the Thirroul program’s start time from 3.30 to 2.30pm, and lowered the age limit.

“The demographic used to be 12 to 18, so it was high school kids, and really the only two high schools that are close are Woonona and Bulli, but you have to get here by train … so we lowered our age demographic to fit in with the local older primary school kids as well.”

The switch to an earlier start time in term 2 means kids can come over straight after school. “Hopefully that will make it a bit easier,” Kate says.

“We are also looking at expanding our program and having more structured activities if that’s what interests kids, like we will have different trivias.”

The program was running in Thirroul two years ago, but it stopped when Covid hit in 2020.

“We’re doing everything we can to get it off the ground again. Because it used to be quite popular.

“I’ve reached out to schools and all sorts of local sporting clubs, Scouts, church groups, anywhere I think that families or kids might go. I have delivered flyers to all the cafes in the area. I just don’t think the word’s getting out there.”

With a head office in Dapto, Careways is a local independent not-for-profit service, mostly funded by the government.

“We have two teams,” Kate says. “We have our care team, which provides aged care and domestic services, meals on wheels, things like that, maintenance around the home, and then the neighbourhood centre team, which is the one I’m a part of. We run free and low-cost programs and events across the community.

“Due to the lockdown last year, we weren’t able to run a lot of our programs, so this program is fully funded by our leftover money at the moment. We wanted to build up some good numbers and then use that to apply for another grant.”

Age is the only criteria for entry to the after-school program. “It is totally open to anyone, 10 to 16. Doesn’t matter if they go to any of the local schools, if they’re homeschooled.

“We hope to create a safe place where kids feel like they can come and go. Bring your friends, bring your siblings as long as they’re in their age bracket. Anyone’s welcome.”

Tell the kids: Thirroul Youth Drop-In is for ages 10-16 on Wednesdays, 2.30-5pm, at Thirroul Neighbourhood Centre (inside the Community Centre and Library building on Lawrence Hargrave Drive). Simply turn up on the day or contact Kate for more information, (02) 4262 1918 or KateS@careways.org.au