Avalon Youth Hub - The Burdekin Association

As part of our multi-year strategy, we are investing more in cultivating relationships, partnerships and collaborations… so that more stakeholders can participate in and contribute to realising our Vision. The Avalon Youth Hub is part of this.

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Avalon Youth Hub Launches!

The Avalon Youth Hub (AYH) was launched in May 2018 with the aim to improve access to youth and family-related support services in the Pittwater region.

The Hub offers free counselling, case management, mentoring, advice, referrals and general support. We also provide workshops and information sessions that can be tailored to meet the needs of the community.

In May 2019 we created a snapshot of the activities that have taken place over the course of the Hub’s first year of operation, you can view the document here. Additionally an independent evaluation has been conducted of the Avalon Youth Hub as of October 2019 to measure the value and effectiveness of the Hub including findings and recommendations.

Seeking Community Youth Work Volunteers

At the Hub we believe that change starts with us all and to that end we are hoping to build awareness about everyday heroes, adult youth volunteers or lighthouse adults and how they can help young people and the community as a whole.

Would you or anyone you know be interested in learning about how to help young people in crisis?

What if you knew how to recognise a person in distress or crisis?

What if you knew how to respond appropriately?

We are inviting members of the community to contact us if they would like to find out more information about how they can help young people to reach their full potential. Interested members of the community would receive appropriate training and mentoring and would work in a voluntary capacity within the Avalon Youth Hub community.

What would the work entail?

We are thinking about community-led youth development workshops, talks and programs. We are thinking about adults who could run clubs, adults who would like to mentor kids or adults with specialist skills that they could offer.

We already have the Hub as a safe space where young people can socialise safely – maybe with your support they can try new things, develop their confidence and self-esteem.

We think voluntary youth work is an untapped area for adults to benefit from too and as a volunteer youth worker you could also get a lot out of the relationship – young people are amazing and working with them can be a lot of fun, volunteers receive training and development and become part of a team.

Why not join us and enhance the personal and social development of local young people whilst making your local community a better place for everyone to live.

Do you need experience?

No, you will receive all the training you need, however if you have a skill, talent or hobby that young people would benefit from then we would love to hear about it.

Criteria: You must be over 18 and undertake National Police Check as well as a NSW Working With Children Check and a National Police Check.

If you have any questions please let us know.

The History

In 2017 local High School Principal Ian Bowsher (Barrenjoey High School) approached our CEO Justene Gordon to ask for help for young people in the area of Pittwater had suffered a series of youth crisis over a three year period that devastated the community and at the same time publicly funded youth mental health services in the area were non-existent.

The concept of The Avalon Youth Hub was born with the premise that individual organisations could not provide adequate services to the area but together they could provide a safe space for youth in crisis and their families to seek help.

The Burdekin Association is the lead agency, however work is shared across a number of organsations including Mission Australia, headspace, Taldumunde Youth Services, KYDS, CCNB, Cathlicare, Streetworks, Public Health Network, Child and Youth Mental Health Service, Northern Beaches Council and a special partnership with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.