Drop in - Youth Group
Youth Program
In 1999 BTACH commenced a youth program to support the needs of young people across the Bellarine. The age group for the program is young people from ages 12-18.
DROP IN has a core focus on connecting young people with each-other and their community and promoting an inclusive, safe and fun environment. The vision of the program is to connect young people to their community by providing them opportunities to participate in experiences and activities that they may not have known were available to them across the Bellarine and in Geelong. The group also supports young people to build their social skills, friendship networks and personal resilience and provides them a safe space to build on their strategies if they experience social anxiety or feel disconnected from their community.
A camp is held annually. These camps provide the young attendees with fun and challenging activities to build leadership skills, personal and physical development and build on their social networks in a safe and fun environment.
Drop In is available every Friday night during school terms from 6pm to 9pm (except excursions when we may be a little later) and costs between $10 and $20 depending on the activity. All in house events are $10.00 and this covers the cost of staff, activity and dinner. DROP IN nights range from engaging in recreational activities to developing life skills, some examples of activities that we have engaged in are Yoga, Self defence, Art, Beach nights, Nature walks, Games nights, Trivia, Lego and surfing. Victoria Police have also used the opportunity to attend some nights to connect with young people in an environment young people feel comfortable.
Since its inception the Drop In program has achieved the following outcomes for young people residing on the Bellarine Peninsula and further:
- Development of a positive relationship between youth and local police,
- Development of confidence and self-esteem amongst young people,
- Development of young leaders
- Opportunities for young people to connect to their community through employment, volunteer opportunities etc
All of our staff are qualified Youth workers with first aid qualifications, have completed police checks, hold Working with Children’s Checks and embed the Victorian Child Safe Standards in their practice.
BTACH makes a conscious priority to seek resources from local Bellarine businesses and the community to support DROP IN, this includes our catering, transport and activity needs for the group.