Youth Hub: Giving Mid Murray’s young people a place to connect
In South Australia’s Mid Murray region, the distance between its 25 towns can be a challenge to connection. It’s particularly difficult for young people with limited transport options and social opportunities.
Participation in organised sport, once a cornerstone of community life, has declined due to smaller team age groups, long travel times and rising costs with some teams having to drive to the Victorian border to play.
“It’s a region where everybody lives really far away from each other,” explains Amie Johnson
Mid Murray Our Town Lead.
“Opportunities for young people to connect are few and far between. As one young person told us, “I only see people at school and Youth Hub – nowhere else.”
Youth Hub is a community-led initiative designed by the young people of Mid Murray. It is the result of a year-long consultation across the towns of Walker Flat, Nildottie, Swan Reach and Blanchetown, which found one in three young people were experiencing low levels of resilience and hope for their future and 70 per cent were not involved in any organised activity outside school.
A $5,000 Neighbourhood Grant from Foundation SA is helping cover Youth Hub’s costs and will also support outreach to more towns.
“It’s not just money,” Amie says of the grant.
“It’s a message that says: we see you, we believe in you, and you deserve the same opportunities as anyone else.”
Youth Hub: An idea from young people for young people
When Mid Murray’s young people were asked what would make a difference, the answers were clear: “We want somewhere to go where we can hang out with our friends.”
“If you genuinely co-design something with the community, people feel invested and have a sense of ownership,” Amie explains.
“With young people I think it’s even more powerful because they’re so used to people doing things on their behalf rather than checking in and asking them what they really want and need.”
The next step was hiring a part-time dedicated Youth Connector, Jess, who says including young people in the decision-making process is “vital”.
“Our young people are the ones who are going to inherit the community, and if the community is not listening to them while they’re young, they’re not going to stick around when they get older,” Jess says.
“When you take the time to talk about their interests like drawing and writing fan fiction, it leads to, ‘Could we do something like this at Youth Hub?’ – and then we make it happen.”
Creating a space for young people to own
Youth Hub is shaped entirely by its members who are aged 12-17. Activities have included Dungeons & Dragons, book clubs, themed days (Harry Potter was a recent hit), kayaking and picnics, and a recent day trip to Adelaide, the highlight of which was a visit to an escape room.
“We hired a bus, drove the two hours to the city and did the escape room, the mod Museum and went to lunch in a restaurant,” Jess explains.
“Lunch was another highlight,” Jess says. “The young people loved being out with their friends in a restaurant, which is something they might only do for a big family event – so that was something different and exciting.”
Youth Hub isn’t just about non-stop activities. It’s also a place for young people to “just chill.” One teen said, “It’s not like school – you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.” Another added, “Sometimes I just want to sit in the corner and talk with my mates – and that’s fine here.”
When the Hub trialled in late 2024, there were six participants. Now there are 22 from four different towns, with more joining each term. A new mobile “mini-hub” in a converted motorhome will soon visit other towns.
“I’m pretty excited,” Jess says. “We can take mini-Youth Hubs to kids who can’t make it to our main one.”
Making a measurable difference
As part of each Youth Hub session Jess tracks how young people feel when they arrive and when they leave. “They might come in and give themselves a score of one or two [out of five] and leave at a four or five – it’s consistently improved,” she says.
In the young people’s own words:
“If I’ve had a bad day at school, Youth Hub makes me feel happy.”
“I look forward to Youth Hub every fortnight – I wish it was every week.”
“If I wasn’t here, I’d be sitting in my room alone, feeling lonely.”
“It’s the only place I get to see my friends outside of school.”
Looking ahead, Jess’ dream is clear: “I’d like Youth Hub to be weekly, and to run regular mobile hubs. I’d also love to start one for primary school kids and connect with other regional youth groups.”
For the Our Town team, the goal is to keep building resilience and hope so young people stay in the region and go on to “become the next generation of community leaders.”
And for the young people themselves? One summed it up simply: “Youth Hub is the best part of my week.”
Donate to support Youth Hub by contacting the Foundation SA team.
