By ANEEKA SIMONIS
PROGRAMS offered at a Pakenham youth service provider serve as a state-wide model for other councils looking to bolster their youth engagement efforts.
Bass MP Brian Paynter and Shadow Minister for Training, Skills, Apprenticeships and Young Victorians Steph Ryan made a visit to My Place youth centre in Pakenham on Monday 5 October.
Services available at the council-run youth facility were diverse and impressive, according to Ms Ryan.
“It is a model that is being looked at by other councils, which is a compliment to the work Cardinia Shire Council and their staff are doing in the youth space,” she said.
Earlier in the day, the pair visited council’s newly opened health hub – Toomah Community Centre – where they visited participants taking part in the Work for the Dole scheme.
The group are currently up skilling themselves and developing a newsletter to be published later in the year.
Mr Paynter said the centre, which includes the council’s first social-enterprise cafe, is an asset to the community.
“Toomah offers a terrific place for people to meet in the cafe, learn a new skill with one of the many courses on offer or visit one of the allied health services on site,” he said.
Ms Ryan said the centre gives a “warm feel”.