The aroma of onions being caramelized and sizzling bacon fills the air, making our mouths water and tummies grumble admidst calls of “Don’t forget to grab the garlic”, “How hot does my pan need to be” and “Have you got any more knives?” bouncing around the newly restored Heritage listed art deco theatrette, now called The Upper Room. This is our very first Junior Master Cooking Class held to connect with our community, in the North Festival of Launceston in October. There’s far more to the story than young people learning to cook delicious….

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In reality some of these young people have only met each other in the last few months, some a little longer but if you knew just a smidge of their life journeys and the struggles they have and do face on a daily basis, you’d be in awe, as am I, of the power of personal growth, coping techniques…..

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We’re just as excited as the young people, not that holidays are nearly here, but for a very different reason, we’ve just received the results from their Achievement & Cognitive Assessments and this may be for the first time in some of these young people’s lives that they will get a report at the end of the year that shows significant improvement

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A beautiful sunny, slightly windy but warm late afternoon found us trundling an esky down the footpath to Riverbend Park to secure one of the well equipped BBQ shelters, battling the pesky seagulls intent on

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It was a very warm and windy Saturday morning. Christmas songs, chattering, nervous giggles, bagpipes warming up, diesel engines starting up and calls to “find your place” swirl around the children, adults and vehicles as the Launceston Christmas Parade starts to come to life

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Huddling together, the parent shared their struggles right now and expressing their gratefulness for the support we’ve given their family. A few of the children were so sad they were crying. My heart broke at such heavy burdens for little lives…..

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The front was covered in angry scribble, dark colours and vile names written all over it (which I won’t repeat) an expression of how they felt the world talked about them and saw them…..

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Did you know it’s more than just a thrift and costume store? We also mentor and train young people in retail here. They not only learn customer service, merchandising and registers but learn life skills too, like conflict resolution, working with different personalities, confidence building, personal boundaries, teamwork and time management…..

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School and social activities were always a struggle for me growing up. Since I started primary school instructions given by the teacher were hard to follow and I’d often get in trouble for not “listening” to the instruction. This affected me mentally…….

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The NotEvenOnce seminar draws to a close, its Q&A time. Students are firing questions at me about Vaping. “If you suck on the vape but don’t inhale the vape, do you get the same effects?” I smile, as I remember a certain President state, he puffed on Marijuana but never……..

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The concept of mentoring sounds amazing doesn’t it? It also can seem equally daunting and many people aren’t sure what they could possibly do to help someone else, let alone a young person. The good news is you absolutely do have a lot to offer…..

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There was no better way to celebrate Christmas and the progress of our restoration work upstairs than with a telling of the true meaning behind Christmas, Jesus and the promise his birth was for all of us. "Shep", the Original Sheepdog (played by Tom) from the shephards at the time was our narrator and journeyed….

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Today Abby* celebrates her Bursary Award from a school in Tasmania with her family. “I could not have done this without you mum” she told her mum, Celine*. Not that long ago, Celine was on the verge of taking her own life…

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