21 October 2022

The Foundation Barossa Youth Council is an annual program for school students to inspire and help shape the future of our community.

The Youth Council Program provides the students called the Youth Ambassadors, the opportunity to have a say about local issues, learn new skills, have fun and develop a closer connection to their community. The program gives the Ambassadors exposure to community issues and opportunities to take up responsibilities, contribute to solutions and ultimately, make a difference in their community.

Darcy McBride, Reeve Waples, and Tom Wohlers from Tanunda Primary School & Disability Unit and Emily Fear and Anthony Bombardieri from Nuriootpa High School were this year’s Ambassadors. Last Tuesday they presented their recommendations on this year’s Community Grant applications to the Foundation Barossa Board

The Foundation Barossa Community Grants support community-based projects throughout the Barossa region. The projects assisted address key needs, building community strength, and finding collaborative solutions to community problems.

The Youth Council recommended the following projects which were unanimously endorsed for funding by the Board.

A grant for Centacare Youth Homelessness, which addresses the key needs of people experiencing homelessness in the Barossa region- shelter, warmth, and capacity to cook food and heat water. The grant will provide sleeping swags for young people who are ‘rough sleeping’, couch surfing packs, and packs for people sleeping in cars.

A Sammy D Foundation grant that had been put forward by Dr. Bill Gransbury on behalf of Angaston Football Club. The Sammy D Foundation educates young people on the impacts of bullying and drug and alcohol-fuelled violence. By providing relevant age-appropriate knowledge and tools, young people are empowered to make positive life decisions.

A ‘Rewilding’ grant for Barossa Wildlife Rescue would like to provide education and engagement opportunities to connect local youth to local wildlife. Barossa Wildlife will develop and implement a pilot program targeted at high school students which: – educates students about local wildlife and what makes them so unique and valuable – educates students about the threats to native ecosystems, and what they can do to address these – educates students about how to respond to injured wildlife and provides opportunities to interact with and care for wildlife. Page | 2

A grant for Tanunda Primary Disability Unit for a bubble machine & boom box to allow for inclusive play for non-mobile students.

Lastly, a grant was also awarded to the Southern Business Alliance for a ‘How to Adult’ pilot. This will targets school leavers or younger persons transitioning from home to employment/tertiary study to attend a short course under the dual themes of “how to adult” to teach practical skills to support this transition and contribute to identifying the future Youth Facility and Services needs in the Barossa. Examples of the course will include areas such as: what is superannuation? how does tax work? how volunteering pays (skills and connection), basic budgeting, etc.

“We were incredibly impressed and inspired by the work of the Youth Council this year. The Ambassadors gave articulate and compelling presentations that were insightful and well thought through. It is a privilege for the Board to be able to listen to the voice of the youth in our community and to be able to see issues through their lens and experience. and see them be part of the solution for solving”, said Annabelle Elton-Martin, Executive Officer, Foundation Barossa.