YMCA Canberra Youth Space @ Civic is open!

A collaboration between YMCA Canberra and Anglicare NSW South, NSW West & ACT, offers a drop-in service and individualised support to young people on two afternoons each week (currently Thursday and Friday from 2-3 for Case Management with a Youth Worker and then 3-7 for drop-in), and is a significant step in the expression of YMCA Canberra’s belief in the power of inspired young people.

Dedicated youth spaces are centrally, not incidentally, important to the lives of their participants.  Young people need a place where they feel safe, where they can express themselves, where they feel a sense of belonging, and where an adult they trust will truly listen to them.  At the Youth Space, we are committed to meeting these needs and creating opportunities for all of our young participants to thrive.

YMCA Youth Space @ Civic has been very successful at engaging and supporting young people.

Since its soft opening on 28 February, we have had several hundred visits and achieved profound impacts on individuals, including finding a young homeless woman emergency accommodation, when specialist agencies had failed her.

The successful first ten weeks of YMCA Youth Space @ Civic culminated in an Official Opening event on 8 May, which was attended by a cornucopia of guests, including local young people, YMCA staff and volunteers, politicians, police, philanthropic leaders, and even Senior Australian of the Year and prominent advocate for young people, Dr Sue Packer.

The intermingling of such a diverse range of guests was remarkable to witness and testament to the effectiveness of YMCA Youth Space @ Civic in bringing people together.

Central to the success of the Official Opening were the contributions of young people who undertook a variety of roles, including Master of Ceremonies, live music performances and facilitating our collaborative art project.

The YMCA Canberra team is grateful for the overwhelming support the YMCA Youth Space @ Civic has received, and dedicated to growing both the positive impact we have on individuals and the number of young people we support.  Stay tuned!