Programs dedicated to adolescent health and fitness have been extended to the 18-25 age group, after the Dorset Council adopted its new youth policy.
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The new committee is known as the Active Youth Committee, and will now represent the needs of 12-25 year olds in the North-East.
The committee will continue to be predominantly made up of 12-16 year olds, and assist young people in areas such as improving their employability, and liaising with schools to develop forums, and newsletters.
The group provides support to youth through activities, programs and events.
Dorset Council Youth & Recreation Officer Mat Handy said the group supported leadership for young people, and had seen impressive work done by Launceston College student Callum Bensemann.
“From the committee's point of view they’ll probably still work with the younger ones. But we just got to make sure that in coming years there’s dedicated program for the 18-25s,” Mr Handy said.
He said the Year 11 student had organised last year’s Derby River Derby, and would continue to assume the responsibility this year.
Mr Bensemann said the new age group would benefit the community, and the committee had been rewarded with their efforts with a free trip to Melbourne.
Mr Handy said students also played a role in organising the Bridport Splash and Mental Health Week, which offered laser tag and zorb balls activities, and provided an informal point of contact for mental health service providers.
“They’ll help me with a lot of programs I couldn’t do myself. We use the activities program because it’s fun, and then there’s the social aspect of it as well which is good for mental health.” He said a few of the over 18s had been encouraged to participate in the Dorset Mens Masterclass cooking classes, which ended earlier this month.
“I think there was a gap there, and there has been a lot of focus on the high school aged kids, which is important, but I think that age group 18-25 living in the municipality still need the chances,” he said.
The decision to adopt the revised youth policy was carried unanimously in a meeting last month.