As the gathering swells inside the Church Meeting Hall in Bourke, NSW, extra chairs are being handed out and people slide theirs back to make room for others. The rectangular layout of tables soon becomes a perfect circle as more community representatives take their seats. They’ve come together to share and celebrate a whole community effort that increased connection, engagement, and safety for their young people over the summer holiday period. The turnout is the largest yet reflecting the combined efforts of many people and a collaborative practice that has become part of the culture of Bourke.
To create and sustain positive change we need to investigate not just what isn’t working but what is and that’s why in March the Bourke community services came together to celebrate and explore what was at the heart of their school holiday success. This has resulted in a case study, developed by Maranguka, that dives into the successful suite of youth engagement activities conducted in Bourke over the Summer of 2022-23 and shares how these activities contributed to improved outcomes for children and young people in Bourke, through strategic coordination between service providers, positive adult modeling and improved community-police relationships.
“I like that there was 100% active engagement of youth. There was an amazing collaboration.”
Melissa Kirby
The activities were designed and run based on what local young people wanted to do, essentially culturally appropriate and interesting activities such as art programs, boxing, culture camps, boxing, barbecues and touch footy. Local police stepped up by leaving their weapons in the station, putting on extra staff at the PCYC and building relationships with local kids based on activities the kids enjoyed.
The outcomes of the activities all contribute to the Bourke Tribal Council’s Growing Our Kids Up Safe, Smart and Strong strategy, a shared vision for the future of Bourke which is operationalised daily through the Maranguka Community Hub.
“Community needs to be involved in the decisions. Not just services or boards or things like that. Everyone should have a say. Even if they go and knock on people’s. doors to let you know about things.”
Tracey Edwards
An important takeaway from the evaluation relates to the practice of collaboration. This involves the need for local service providers to be committed to ongoing collaboration with the community through Maranguka, until it becomes second nature. This way of working can feel very different, yet a commitment to working in this way is essential for building the connections that ensure that the challenges of tomorrow are met by solutions that work.
