NOWRA’S young people will continue to have access to a night bus service thanks to a $78,000 government grant.
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The funds will allow the Safe Aboriginal Youth program, managed by Habitat Personnel, to continue night-time patrols on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, which picks up Indigenous and non-Indigenous youths from the streets from 4pm to 10pm and takes them to a safe place.
The service picked up 4000 youths last year.
South Coast MP Shelley Hancock said the bus targeted unsupervised, bored young people who were at risk of being victims of crime or caught up in criminal activity.
“The service offers more than a free ride home. The team also takes young people to the local youth centre where they can participate in a range of activities including art, music and cooking classes,” she said.
“The team also connects youth with support services so they can address the issues that led them to being on the streets late at night.”
Habitat Personnel youth night patrol supervisor Fiona Hill said the program had run for more than 15 years and she had been part of it from day one.
“It was initially a voluntary service. We had over 20 people, mainly elders, who drove around to make sure our kids were off the streets,” she said.
“We made the partnership with the Nowra Youth Centre when it was on Bridge Road and ever since we have offered to pick up and drop off young people and provide them with a place where they could hang out.
“We really like to make sure we are available at big local events too, particularly the local shows and for the first time last year the carols which we had a really positive response to.”
Despite these busy periods in the warmer months of the year, the statistics showed youths used the service primarily in winter months.
In May, June and July over 739 young people used the transportation.
“It’s hard to gauge when they will need us so we try to make sure we are available as much as possible. We used to see more numbers in summer, but that has changed,” Ms Hill said.
Nowra Youth Centre manager Janet Atkins said the service mainly covered a 10km radius around Nowra and encouraged local businesses to call when young people were in need of a place to go.
“We bring them back to the centre and offer a range of activities to keep them occupied in a safe environment,” she said.
“We rely heavily on volunteers and community support to run the programs available to the kids.”
The patrol is staffed by local Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers who have received training to assist them address the needs of young people.
A police Aboriginal liaison officer also rides on the bus to provide support.
The Safe Aboriginal Youth program is fully funded until June 2016 and is available for young people aged between 12 and 18.