The WA Government and Member for Bunbury Don Punch have made a commitment to support one of the region’s care programs.
The government has pledged $60,000 over the next six months to assist the work of the Ice Breakers initiative in Bunbury.
The Bunbury MLA was approached by PCYC Bunbury manager Joanne Hill to get Ice Breakers into Bunbury as a pilot program as part of the Local Projects, Local Jobs initiative.
Mr Punch met with Ms Hill, Ice Breakers facilitator/coordinator Adam Lange and co-facilitator Teanne Last on Monday for the announcement.
Mr Punch said the funding would be put towards getting young people engaged and working constructively in the community.
“It’s something that is about quietly building the relationship up with locals and starting to use that as a basis for basic, local community activities,” he said.
“It’s a great little project, it’s one of those quiet achiever projects, it’s on the back of a lot of work that we’ve been doing with Carey Park particularly and we’re trying to help bring Kelly Park – as part of Carey Park –back into the public view as a good community asset.
“But also it’s just fantastic support we get from the PCYC and Joanne on this project and the work that the PCYC does for Bunbury generally is a great complement to the work that Adam and Teanne are doing.”
Ms Hill added it was rewarding to see community programs like Ice Breakers receive this level of support.
“From a PCYC perspective, its great to receive the funding to get something like this up in the Bunbury area,” she said.
Mr Lange said he and the peer-to-peer group strived to support youth in the community.
“It’s been awesome to be given the opportunity, I’ve really enjoyed it, working closely with youth in Carey park and having the young people come through the PCYC and the drop-in centre,” he said.
Ms Last said she loved being part of the initiative and providing help for a range of people in the region.
Ice Breakers meetings are held at Jobs South West on Bourke Street on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5pm to 7pm.
Day sessions are held on Mondays and Thursdays at the PCYC.
Contact the PCYC on 9795 8690 or Ice Breakers on 0400 707 049/icebreakers.bunbury@wapcyc.com.au for more information.