A message from the Mayor - Celebrating our youth

Published on 18 April 2016

Last Thursday night I attended Council’s 2016 Youth Awards as a part of National Youth Week which is held annually around Australia.  It is the fourth year we have run these awards and I must say, this year certainly looked like a coming of age for this important recognition evening.

What a wonderful evening it was.  The room was full of young people aged from 12 to 25 and their family, friends, partners and supporters.  The buzz around the room was exciting

And it should be exciting.  These young people were nominated by others in the community for their outstanding contributions to our local community.  But what do we mean by “outstanding contribution”?

Reading through the list of over forty nominees and their achievements, I was astounded by the wide variety of activities these under 25’s are involved in.

We had young people being acknowledged for their work in the arts, for creating murals to honour our World War I veterans, for bringing other forms of art such as henna to the wider community, for engaging in and encouraging others to join in with theatre production and acting.  Even young people bringing art to our elderly community.

We had young people being acknowledged for their volunteer work, for their work with Scouts and Guides, the FReeZA committee, Clean Up Australia Day and Relay for Life, for their commitment to community events such as Blue Light Disco’s, MASP Sleep out and Red Hot Jazz.

We had young people being acknowledged for their commitment to their families, for caring for brothers, sisters and parents, for dealing with issues so many adults would struggle with, for just being there for others.

I said it on the night, but I want to say it again.  You are all amazing people.  Whether you’re visible in the community or supporting loved ones away from the public eye, every one of you should be so very proud of your achievements.

This Friday we have another great youth event on, with the annual Battle of the Bands competition kicking off at the Mildura Senior College.  I want to wish all the bands competing the best of luck.  We have some fantastic musical talent locally and this is a great opportunity to launch yourself on to the national stage.

As a Council, we are very proud of our Youth Services team and the work they do.  Our FReeZA Committee and Youth Action Committee are examples of young people trying to make a difference and they are always looking for new ways to engage their peers in our community.

We often read how disadvantaged our community is, how tough our young people are doing it and how hard it is to get ahead in life.  But these young people are succeeding in spite of the odds and as a community, we can do more to support our youth.

At Council we recently adopted a new Youth Engagement Strategy and I urge you to check it out on Council’s website at www.mildura.vic.gov.au

Once again, congratulations to all the nominees and award winners for the 2016 Mildura Rural City Council Youth Awards.  We hope to see even more young people acknowledged for their great community spirit into the future.

Cr Glenn Milne
Mayor