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Covid 19 Awareness
This document is a guide for Young Life Australia staff and volunteers. We’d like to share it as a source of information for parents, carers and other organisations we work with in partnership.
Young Life Australia is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all staff, volunteers, young people and their families. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 (Novel Coronovirus) and its transmission in the wider community, our commitment is to act responsibly and in line with Health Department guidelines, to look after ourselves and everyone involved in the Young Life network.
General Precautions
- Check your State Health Department website for the latest and reliable updates.
- Protect yourself and others: wash your hands regularly with soap (sing happy birthday to yourself and then rinse), cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. Importantly – stay at home if you’re feeling unwell.
- If you develop a fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath within 14 days of overseas travel or are in contact with someone else who has COVID-19, seek medical attention: call your GP, Healthdirect on 1800 022 222, or in an emergency, your local hospital emergency department.
- In the event that you believe you have been in close contact with someone who may have been exposed to COVID-19, please ensure that you report to a doctor for testing. Please inform Young Life Australia as well.
- Close contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded for 14 days since last contact with the confirmed case.
- Any confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded until they are medically cleared to return to work.
Young Life Club Precautions – Instructions for Staff
- Inform parents and young people Young Life Clubs and gatherings have been suspended until further notice from Monday, March 23, 2020.
- Request parents inform Young Life Australia if in the next two weeks they or their child:
- develop a fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath or,
- learn they have had close contact with someone who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
- Please retain records of who attended activities just in case we need to inform health authorities in the future.
Young Life Australia will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation and work through the implications of managing the COVID-19 challenge, responding to the relevant Health Department updates as they are announced.
Thank you for your ongoing support with this matter. We will continue to keep you updated.
Glyn Henman
CEO, Young Life Australia
P: 1300 557 647 E: office@younglife.org.au W: younglife.org.au
2019 Financial Report and Year in Review
Connections magazine was published in October with Young Life Australia’s financials for the year 2018-19. You can read it here.
Meet Mark Stretton, Young Life’s new Manager, Field Operations and Training.
We announce Mitchell Broom steps into the role of Chair, on the Young Life Australia Board. Mitch has served on the board since 2012.
We farewell Young Life’s Chief Financial Officer, Llew Morris who is retiring after 15 years of service.
Connections is published three times a year. To subscribe, contact our national office on 1300 557 647.
Your gift brings light and community into the life of teens
Dear Friends,
Will you help Young Life Australia reach more teens with a life-changing message of hope?
The end of the financial year is fast approaching and I’m writing to ask if you will consider making a donation toward Young Life’s youth programs.
Your gift really will make a difference!
In the past year, Young Life Australia has played a part in more than 3000 young lives through our programs, camps and chaplaincy work. Our uniquely local and relational programs are helping to impact the life and culture of close to 60 school communities across Australia… and we’d like to do more.
I’m sure you agree, making a difference in the life of just one teenager who is struggling to believe in their own self-worth is incredibly worthwhile.
But in reality, every time a teenager turns from despair to a new sense of hope, ripples occur in every direction. Classmates notice the difference. Teachers, parents and siblings watch in amazement.
Everyone can see the change and are filled with hope because the young person they know and love, has found a new sense of purpose.
Ebony’s* story is one such example. Ebony’s early years were spent in foster care due to the turmoil in her mother’s life. Today she lives with her grandmother and attends a school where Young Life is active. Recently she began attending Young Life Club. It was the change in a close friend that attracted her interest. Why had he changed? What was behind it?
Her skepticism was high but Young Life Club wasn’t threatening or weird. Over time she became a regular and Young Life gave her a place to think through her early experiences which were troubling. She learned about God’s love for her which has changed the way she sees her own value as a person and her life at school and home. Young Life allowed Ebony to grow in assurance, simply by offering friendship, consistency and words of hope.
This is the real gift – and there are many stories like this arising through Young Life’s work in your area as well.
I believe, there are countless young people like Ebony searching for answers and acceptance. With your help, Young Life will continue to offer a sound and secure base upon which young people can grow and develop socially, emotionally and spiritually.
Please, will you make a donation by downloading our Giving Form and returning it to Young Life Australia, PO Box 240, West Ryde NSW 1685? If you are a regular donor, it is possible to increase your regular gift or to make a one-off additional tax-deductible gift. Our online giving page can be found at younglife.org.au/give.
We are so thankful for your involvement in the work of Young Life.
Yours faithfully,
Glyn Henman
CEO | Young Life Australia
- Ebony’s name and some details have been changed for privacy reasons
Why time spent with teenagers is time well spent
By Glyn Henman
Recently I heard a young High School student tell of the way Young Life has changed the direction of her life for the better.
Become a giving partner with Young Life today.
It was such a significant moment when you learn of the situations she has experienced.
But before I share her story, I would first like to thank the many people who share a deep concern for the future of young people and work with us to make a whole range of positive, locally-based, relational programs possible.
And if you are new to Young Life please find out more about our mission to help teenagers build confidence and grow in resilience. Some of those programs include:
- Early morning pancake breakfasts
- In-school support through sports, lunchtime clubs and homework assistance
- Young Life Club after school
- Camping experiences and day trips
- Small groups with a Christian focus
These are just some of the ways we help young people build connections and fight back against isolation and alienation.
Which brings me to Elle’s story*. Like many young people our youth leaders meet, Elle’s family life is complex but as Elle explained, in her particular case family friction and trauma nearly resulted in her becoming homeless.
When Elle met Young Life, she was an angry, unpredictable adolescent in desperate need of someone to care and help her through the emotions and decisions she was making. Someone like a big sister.
This is where Elle’s Young Life leader stepped in. At Young Life Club and Camp she discovered a place where she could unpack some of the hurt and find supporting friendships. It has changed Elle’s life. Today, Elle shares her story with others and has this to say. “Young Life saved my life. I didn’t have a family and now I do.”
You can be a transforming influence in a teenagers life by giving to Young Life. With your support, more young people like Elle will be helped.
To make a donation, visit our website www.younglife.org.au/donate or call our national office on 1300 557 647 to make arrangements in person. We’d love to hear from you.
Glyn Henman
CEO, Young Life Australia
*Not her real name
Young Life Club opens in Hawker
It’s happening. Our first Belconnen Club! And if you are in the Hawker-Belconnen area and in high school or college, you are invited…
Young Life Canberra is responsible for pancakes and Bubble Soccer at Belconnen High.
You can expect games, challenges, themes, food and a chance to relax and chat. It’s fun, a bit crazy and a really good place to hang out with friends outside of school.
The team who are leading Club are volunteers and are known to students at Belconnen High for running the pancake breakfast.
Young Life Australia runs camps as well as Clubs, including a national Summer Camp held in Jindabyne every January.
“So come along, don’t miss out. We meet this week on Thursday, 12th April, and every second-week starting next term in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10,” says Alex.
What: Young Life Belconnen, a youth group for all high-school and college-age young people
When: Thursday, April 12 at 3.36pm and every second week from the beginning of Term Two.
Where: Corner of Beetaloo St and Belconnen Way (Christ Church Hawker)
The venue for Young Life Belconnen, Christ Church Hawker
For more information about Young Life Canberra, email Alex Lee or call 0427 208 778.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @Younglifecanberra
View our flyer
Volunteers make the best members
Did you know, as a Young Life volunteer you can become a member?
Young Life welcomes people from the communities in which we serve to be members of our organisation. This is a great way to affirm your support for Young Life’s purpose and show your interest in helping the organisation develop and sustain its work among young people.
Ideally, we’d love all our volunteers to become members and our AGM in September 2017 is an opportunity to submit new candidates.
Interested? Then act today! There is a document to read and a form to be filled in. You must be nominated and seconded by an existing member. Call our national office and we will direct you to the right person.
- Download and read the membership information
- If you agree, sign the form and phone Llew Morris at the National Office on 02 9877 5144 who will advise you from there.
What does it cost?
There are two tiers of membership:
Association members have the right to vote at the AGM. This is $40 per annum
Young Life partners do not have voting rights. This is $20 per annum.
These small payments will help Young Life administer important aspects of being a volunteer organisation such as training and insurance needs; as well as managing child safety.
Interested in volunteering at Summer Camp in 2018. Lodge your details here!