May 2014

Volume 3, Issue 10

Maitland/ Dungog Youth Development

Officer

Maitland/ Dungog Newsletter

A Personal Tale Of Being Bullied I was bullied as a kid.

That might be hard for you to imagine if you’ve met me in person.

As a former representative footy player who stands around 191cm

and over 110kg, I don’t come across as your typical ‘victim.’

But I used to dread going to school on a daily basis. Each day

would be spent in a state of hyper-vigilance looking for the older

kids who, for some reason, had taken it upon themselves to make

my life hell.

It started in primary school when I was around 9, I think from

memory… Read more

Roughly 1 in 4 students (27%) have reported being bullied, from ele-

mentary to high school. And 64% of females from Years 6 to 12 reported

being cyber-bullied. Bullying is a big issue in primary and high schools,

and continues on at home over the internet.

This year’s RYDON Conference is focusing on Responding to Bullying &

Cybersafety, and will have a lot of information that will assist workers

and teachers on the ground to support and understand the young people

we work with. Check out the conference website here or read page 2 of

the newsletter for more information.

Check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA5C-

1N_r1w. Inspired and performed by students at three Catholic primary

and secondary schools in Woollongong, this innovative video production

uses their voice and experience to focus on the impact of bullying and

provides practical strategies for youth to deal with this important issue.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Refugee Rights Festival ........... 2

2014 Youth Week .................... 3

“App Space” ............................. 4

Resources for Young People .... 4

A section for Youth Workers ... 5

Funding and Grants ................ 6

Thank a Worker Day ............... 7

….and MORE!!!

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST (CLICK )

Maitland Youth Interagency

dates and guest speakers

Dungog Youth Interagency

dates and guest speakers

Add something to the next

Newsletter

CERTIFICATE IV IN YOUTH WORK–

DUNGOG– still places available!

Would you or someone you know be interested in this course?

We would like to hear expressions of interest from you so you can

get on the list, the course starts this Monday 12th May 2014!! We

need to have you enrolled by next Wednesday 14th May 2014.

How much do they cost? Although both courses are subsi-

dised, there is still an administration fee. This would be approxi-

mately $1100. However, for those on (most) Centrelink benefits,

the fee is only $106. For Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders the

fee is zero.

Please either email us or phone us to express your inter-

est.

25TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

2

REFUGEE RIGHTS FESTIVAL

A bunch of local artists and musicians are organising a refugee rights

event at the Croatian Bowling Club in Newcastle on the 17th of May

(Saturday). The idea of the event is to have local artists, and musicians

from refugee backgrounds playing music for the event, and to promote

understanding of the problems that refugees and asylum seekers face in

coming to Australia. There will be stalls from the refugee action network

Newcastle (RANN) and Amnesty International for further information.

There will be food on the day from the Vegetarian Club at Newcastle Uni-

versity, which will be a fantastic meal for only $5 a plate (food open from

1-5pm). The event itself runs from 1pm till 12am, and there will be people

from the refugee community sharing their stories on the day. There is a

$10.00 entry and all proceeds will be donated to relevant charities

(RANN and RISE). It should be a fun day filled with music, food and fes-

tivities. We hope to see you there! See poster

The longest running Youth Work conference is back– and for the first

time we have a day just for young people! This will be facilitated by Pro-

ject Rockit—and run alongside the worker conference on 23rd June. The

Conference for Workers and Educators is on the 23rd and 24th June

2014– register now at www.rydon.org.au/conference . The theme for

2014 is Responding to Bullying & Cybersafety: Best Practice and Inspira-

tion, with guests such as Prof. Rhonda Craven, Lyn Worsley, Nina Fun-

nell, Legal Aid, the Multicultural Youth Affairs Network and Chloes Law

– the conference will equip you with practical tools for your work, and

offer plenty of inspiration.

YOUTH WEEK EVENTS 2014YOUTH WEEK EVENTS 2014

Connect All in the mall, celebrating Youth Week 2014 was yet again another success-ful event hosted in Maitland Mall.

The day consisted of Art projects, photography, air brush tattooing, photo booth, Free bacon and egg rolls and live performances from young peo-ple within the community.

The aim of the day was to celebrate the talents of young people with a disability within the com-munity and give them an opportunity to show-case the skills and talents that they each bring.

It was a very successful day and a great collabo-ration among local service providers. The day saw an estimate of 150 people come by and check out our event!

Thanks to all involved and for those that volun-teered their time to photograph our event, assist

with the set up and set down, along with

helping out on the activities was greatly

appreciated.

3

LockUp2014 at Maitland Gaol

On Friday 11th April, the 2nd annual hip-hop music festival

kicked off at Maitland Gaol- with 8 local hip-hop artists

and crews performing (Talakai, Collective Crew, Lomas,

Ballence, Poetic, Kaotic N Hype, Tycotic, and Relevant-

who supported Bliss N Eso the night after)- and 3 compe-

tition winners (Deks, Mitus, and Hosh-Yo). There was

also a graffiti art demonstration by youth worker Shane

‘Tuns’ Kennedy, pics of the completed artwork are below!

There were about 250 young people on the night of the

event, and some awesome feedback!

As well as planning the event, some of the Maitland Youth

Entertainment Committee members were also involved in

running the sexual health stall which had infomration

from YEAH!, and a project from Family Planning called

#WrapYourBanana- check out the instagram photos at

#WrapYourBanana. The LockUp event was supported by

local services such as Wesley Youth Services who cooked

the food, and Maitland Council, the Youth Mental Health

Service, Maitland Grossman Youth Worker and Samari-

tans Back on Trac who helped set up and pack down after

the event.

See pictures on the first and second page.

Carve It Up

CONNECT ALL IN THE MALL

The annual Carve It Up Skate and Scooter compe-

tition was held in Rutherford on Sunday 6th to kick

off Youth Week events for the area. About 150 were

in attendance and 70 young people competed

across the beginner, intermediate and advanced

divisions and were judged by the iSkate and Madd

Gear Australian teams. The event was run in part-

nership with Maitland Council, Maitland Neigh-

bourhood Centre, Youth Express, Paterson Rotary

and the YDO and the music was played by DJ F3R-

GO- a local Dungog young person.

APP

SPACE

4

Resources 4Young People

Centrelink in Woodberry

The Department of Human Services will be having a repre-

sentative attend the Noel Unicomb Hall fortnightly to support

people in the area in dealing with their Centrelink issues. This

will start on Wednesday the 14th of May from 10-12noon and

will continue each fortnight. No appointment necessary.

Maitland Bullying photobooth

The Woodberry Youth Committee and the YDO have been working to organise a photobooth project in four local schools to raise awareness of bullying, on Monday 7th April we travelled to Maitland Grossman High School, Rutherford High School, Francis Greenway High School and Woodberry Public School. We worked with the young people in the school to come up with pos-itive messages around where to get help, how to deal with bullying and to take a stand against bullying. The students were photographed, pho-tobooth style, and will be made into individual-ised posters for the schools. There were about 10-16 students from each school that participated.

ibobbly draws on stories from

Aboriginal performers and uses

psychological therapies proven to

reduce suicidal thoughts.

Suicide rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are amongst the highest in the world.

Despite increased funding and imple-mentation of new prevention pro-grams, very few indigenous people will seek help before acting on suicidal thoughts.

Black Dog Institute, in partnership with WA-based suicide prevention group Alive and Kicking Goals, is launching a trial of the world’s first suicide prevention app designed espe-cially for use by indigenous people on mobile phones or tablet devices.

Called iBobbly (a name derived from a

Kimberley greeting), the app delivers

treatment-based therapy in a culturally

relevant way. Based on psychological

therapies proven to reduce suicidal

thoughts, it draws heavily on indige-

nous metaphors, images and stories

drawn from local Aboriginal artists

and performers.

A fantastic new resource to support one big

idea – that young people have an important

role in shaping the present and future of our

communities. www.yerp.org.au

POSITION VACANT

STARTTS Newcastle Region-

al Outreach Counsellor/

Project Officer (click for info)

NOMINATIONS

OPEN

Regional Youth Services

Awards

The 3rd Annual RYSA

awards are now open

and accepting nomina-

tions.

Categories this year include

Youth Friendly

Business of the Year, Youth

Event of the Year, Youth Sec-

tor Worker of the Year and

Young Person of the Year.

Entry is open to services and

individuals who’s work is

undertaken in the RYDON

Regions of Newcastle, Lake

Macquarie, Maitland/

Dungog, Central Coast, Cess-

nock, Upper Hunter, Port

Stephens and Gloucester.

Go to http://

www.surveymonkey.com

/s/RYSA2014

Nominations close 31st

May.

The RYSA Awards Dinner

will be held on 23rd June as

part of the RYDON Confer-

ence. Tickets are $20 and

include a 3 course meal. This

can be booked via the

www.rydon.org.au/

conference/ website.

REDUCE STRESS IN YOUR WORKDAY

Some inspiration

Check out this video about the city that filled its win-

dows with a different kind of mannequin.

1

Check out iBobbly– learning

a new tool to use with young

people can help to alleviate

stress and give you some-

thing new to think about.

2

Manage your time. Give

yourself time to get things

done; set your watch so you

have more time to prepare

for an event

3

Take 5 minutes and focus on

only one behaviour with

awareness. When you spend

time in the moment and fo-

cus on your senses, you

should feel less tense.

YOUTH ACTION LAUNCHES NSW

2015 ELECTION AGENDA

The agenda identifies 9 issues Youth

Action think are vital changes the

NSW Government should undertake in

order to improve the lives of young

people in NSW. They include:

1. Prevention & Early Intervention

Services

2. Housing

3. Domestic & Family Violence

4. Mental Health

5. Apprenticeships and Traineeships

6. Justice Reinvestment

7. School Suspension

8. Supportive Schools

Full Report - http://

youthaction.org.au/latest/nsw-2015-

election-agenda-full-report/

5

A section 4Youth Workers

Intentional self-harm and suicidal behaviour in children

As latest statistics show young Australians including teenagers are more

likely to die from suicide than car accidents, the National Children's Com-

missioner Megan Mitchell is today opening submissions for her examina-

tion into intentional self-harm and suicidal behaviour.

To make a submission, go to www.humanrights.gov.au/ssh-in-children.

Submissions close Monday 2 June 2014.

People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something

other than what they’re doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes

them unhappy. So says a study that used an iPhone Web app to gather

250,000 data points on subjects’ thoughts, feelings, and actions as they

went about their lives. Read more here.

Are you looking for funding for an idea? Do you have a plan for service delivery to help the community you live in?

2014 Newmans Own Foundation grants -Applications close May 30

For projects that address nutrition issues, including but not restricted to, school breakfast/lunch programs, food

rescue, Indigenous nutrition initiatives, access to fresh food, childhood obesity and nutrition education.

Anzac Centenary Local Grants– Applications close May 30

The Australian Government’s Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program assists and encourages communities across

Australia to undertake their own Anzac Centenary projects that commemorate the service and sacrifice of Austral-

ian servicemen and women in the First World War. Up to $125, 000 is available.

ClubGRANTS 2014- Applications close June 9

Local Funding priorities for 2014 are Cultural awareness training, Leadership Development, Initiatives that en-

gage community in art, culture, sport and recreation; Initiatives that improve parenting & life skills; Volunteering

Initiatives; Community based healthy activities; Initiatives that support social participation for aged, disability,

indigenous, CALD or youth; Initiatives that encourage a zero tolerance to all forms of family and community vio-

lence; Projects aimed at keeping people

and communities safe; Targeted inter-

vention and prevention initiatives for

suicide, depression, social isolation.

FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innova-

tion Grants- Applications close

June 13

Up to $100,000 to assist not-for-

profit organisations in regional Aus-

tralian communities to ‘adopt’ and

act on one of eight innovative Hey-

wire project ideas, see website for

these ideas.

ONGOING FUNDING AND GRANTS

FUNDING & GRANTS CLOSING SOON

6

Regional Arts —Quick Response Grants — Ongoing

Coca-Cola Grants – Ongoing

Up to $10,000, open for applications all year, age group is 12 – 25.

Click on the above link for more info and applications.

Jetstar Flying Start Programme- $30,000, made up of

$15,000 cash and $15,000 worth of travel with Jetstar —

Grants awarded quarterly

MAITLAND/ DUNGOG YOUTH DEVEL-

OPMENT OFFICER UPDATE

This Thursday 8th May is Thank a Youth

Worker Day! We all know the great work

that youth workers do to support

young people, but how often do we stop

and say thank you to our colleagues for

their dedication and hard work.

In recognition of the work that your

colleagues do I would like to recom-

mend that you nominate someone for

a Youth Worker of the Year Award at

this years RYSA’s whom you feel has

made an outstanding contribution to the

youth sector. Information on these

awards is found on page 5.

Maitland/ Dungog Youth Development

Officer

Mon-Fri, 9-5

Mon: Woodberry Family Centre

Tues, Thurs, Fri: headspace Maitland

Wed: Dungog Community Centre

Phone: 0407 891 650

Fax: 02 4931 1060

E-mail: mdcydp@samaritans.org.au

For the latest Training & Event Calendar, please see attachment in

email from YDO

For the latest Maitland Youth Interagency dates and guest speakers,

please click here

To add something to the next monthly newsletter, please click here to

email details to the YDO

For the latest Dungog Youth Interagency dates and guest speakers,

please click here

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT THE NEW RYDON WEB-

SITE? DETAILS OF ALL INTERAGENCIES AND MORE

2014 Maitland Youth Interagency

MONTH TYPE DATE TIME LOCATION GUEST SPEAKER

February Planning

Session

THURS

27th

9:30-16:00 Central Park Café- near the infor-

mation centre, High Street Mait-

World Café- Facilitated by Dee Brooks-

Family Action Centre RSVP to Bron

March Youth THURS

27th

10:30-

12:30

Mindaribba LALC- 1a Chelmsford

Drive, Metford NSW

Don Perlgut- MoneySmart Rookie

Sal & Trudy- Sector Support Project

MFSS

May Youth THURS

29th

9:30- 11:30 Maitland TAFE, Building A,

Ground Floor room 14 (AG.14)

Joanne Sinclair- ARAFMI NSW

Julie Clark- Family Drug Support

Monique Harris- Early Links

July Youth THURS

31st

9:30- 11:30 Maitland PCYC- 3 James St, Mait-

land NSW (Conference room

Liz Vause- headspace Maitland

Megan Budge- CanTeen

September Youth THURS

25th

9:30- 11:30 Mindaribba LALC- 1a Chelmsford

Drive, Metford NSW

Ave Chandwick- Samaritans Youth Direct

Dr June Anderson- Lifeline

TBA- Lisa Dundas, TAFE NSW

November Youth THURS

27th

9:30- 11:30 Maitland TAFE, Building A,

Ground Floor room 14 (AG.14)

Jo McGregor & Anne Hayter- STARTTS

Kerri Bird- Family Action Centre

TBA- Red Belly Blacks

December End of year

Lunch

THURS

11th

12:00-

14:00

Seraphine Café, Maitland Art

Gallery

N/A

2014 Dungog Youth Interagency Meetings

MONTH TYPE DATE TIME LOCATION GUEST SPEAKER

January Youth-

Young peo-

ple involved

THURS

30th

13:30- 15:15 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Megan Budge- CanTeen

February Combined

Child,

Youth and

Family

WED 26th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Julie Clark- Family Drug Support

March Youth WED 26th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Liz Vause- headspace Maitland

April TRAINING

OPPOR-

TUNITY

WED 30th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Liberty Hickson- Assessing and assisting

non suicidal self-injury workshop

May Combined

Child,

Youth and

Family

WED 28th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Leah Bibik- Family and Community Ser-

vices

June Youth-

Young peo-

ple involved

THURS

26th

13:30- 15:15 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Allen Shrimpton- Community Road Safety

Officer

July Youth WED 30th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

August Combined

Child,

Youth and

Family

WED 27th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

Annette Slater- Aboriginal Sexual Health

September Youth WED 24th 10:30-

12:30

TBA– Contact YDO if you have a

proposed venue

October Youth-

Young peo-

ple involved

THURS

30th

13:30- 15:15 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

November Combined

Child,

Youth and

Family

WED 26th 10:30-12:30 Dungog High School- Eloiza St,

Dungog NSW

December End of year

Lunch