NAMBUCCA’s Becoming U work-ready, personal potential youth program has been nominated in the Outstanding Work with Regional Young People category at the NSW Youth Work Awards with the winner to be announced in Sydney on Thursday, 17 November.

Based on Gumbaynggirr Country, Becoming U works with young people aged eight to eighteen from the Nambucca Valley to co-design and bring to life the programs that empower them and help them unleash their potential to thrive so they are work-ready and both mentally and physically healthy.

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Uniting/Becoming U Community Impact Strategy Lead Barry Higgins said the program has been going for four years and he is stoked about the growing recognition the team is getting for the work they are doing.

“Becoming U is really about going into the Nambucca community and spending time there, not rushing in, not coming in with a pre-organised project, and really letting that community work alongside us and co-design projects with them, for them.

“Some of the projects which have been co-designed include digital storytelling, which is all about highlighting self-belief and confidence in young people, we also do sport programs, which are all about building new skills and developing relationships with other young people, plus we have Opportunity U grants which are aimed at helping remove those financial hurdles for young people, and we have mentoring projects,’’ said Barry.

With its success in Nambucca, Becoming U has branched out into Toormina and has been exploring that community for the past couple of months thanks to its Community Connector Jess Miller.

“Through Jess’s work, so far we have managed to connect with Toormina High School and are working on establishing key relationships and exploring some interesting projects which we can use to support young people within that area.

“This is just the beginning and we look forward to more success for our young people.

“We share this honour with the young people, parents, teachers, school staff, mentors and organisations who have all played a part in Becoming U’s journey so far.”

The NSW Youth Work Awards are hosted by Youth Action NSW, the peak body representing young people and the services supporting them in NSW.

They advocate for positive change on issues affecting these groups.

Youth Action founded the NSW Youth Work Awards in 2013 to create an annual celebration of the exceptional work of youth services and youth workers across NSW.

The winner will be announced at the Awards ceremony on Thursday, 17 November at the Australian Theatre for Young People, Dawes Point, Sydney.

By Andrea FERRARI