GRIFFITH'S YOUTH TO SPEAK OUT

GRIFFITH youth will play a key role in the search for harmony in the city when they attend a special meeting next Tuesday.

The meeting is the first step in a new initiative, to be known as Speak Out, which is the brainchild of Suicide Awareness president Val Rowe and Griffith Skills Training Centre's Mark Taylor.

The pair met with mayor Dino Zappacosta and Assistant General Manager Andrew Crakanthorp last week to discuss the plan, which was given the go ahead.

"The aim is to get a team of about 40 local youths together from different backgrounds with different interests in the city," Mrs Rowe said. "We'll get together on February 13 to discuss what sort of things they want in Griffith. They'll let us know what they want for their future. If you don't ask the youth, you don't get to the core of any problems facing them. We need to start with the youth and then adults can work around what the issues are."

Mrs Rowe said the team of 40 youths, ranging from 14 to 21 years, will effectively give a wide cross-section of the community a voice.

"I've heard so many of them say that no one listens to what they have to say and they are just so grateful we are giving them this chance," she said. "This way we hope to come up with some brilliant ideas - these kids are our future but they seem to get overlooked. Council were extremely encouraging when we approached them with the idea. We will take what they have to say back to cuoncil and see if we can get something done."

Mayor Dino Zappacosta called the Speak Out meeting "a superb idea", and one that he hopes will work well with the community action plan working groups that council has established.

Story by: Tanya Pattison, The Area News, February 9 2007.