Opportunities to engage local kids in the Warren region recently grew ten-fold after the Warren Youth Group was successful in securing tens of thousands in government funding to purchase a bus for day trips across the region.

The organisation, which focuses on transitioning disengaged youth from school to the work force, has achieved a lot since its establishment in 2013. 

Warren Youth Group CEO Kelly Sinclair said the philanthropic program began from the initiative of a Warren local who wanted to see kids having more to do than loitering on streets. 

“So far this year, we’ve managed to get 76 youths employed, getting them out on farms and given them some sort of experience,” said Ms Sinclair. 

“Everything we bill to the employers goes right back into programs for these youths,” she said. 

The success of the program, Ms Sinclair says, lies in its casualness, where kids aren’t forced or expected to turn up every day. 

“We try not to force them because the more you try to force them the harder it gets, but we do offer them incentives to go,” said Ms Sinclair. 

The flexible nature of the employment program isn’t one that every business in town can afford. So far, most jobs have relied on the employment of local farmers, who have offered tasks like stick picking and fencing.

“The local farmers have been really good to us, but in town not so much. We haven’t had a lot of success in getting them there.”

“I think that’s because the motivational patterns aren’t right. We’re trying to break generations of unemployment. Businesses in town want one person who they can rely on,” Ms Sinclair said. 

Last year, the Warren Youth Group opened the town’s youth centre and community hub, which is now open every afternoon as a drop-in centre. Throughout the school holidays, the centre runs different activities, such as tie-dye, arts and crafts, cooking classes, and excursions to Dubbo. 

Ms Sinclair hopes acquiring a second-hand 12-seater bus - funded by a $40,000 grant from the state government - will help allow the organisation to build its attendance levels even further.

Prior to this, hiring a bus cost them around $550 per trip, funds that can now be redirected to other programs within the organisation.

Outside of the Warren Youth Group, options of activities around town are limited, with the exception of a new skate park and the local pool.

Ms Sinclair is hopeful that the growing capability of the organisation, increased by the new bus, will be instrumental in reducing local juvenile crime statistics. 

The government funding is part of $400,000 that will be split between several community-led projects in 17 towns across the Barwon region.