Posted on 17th March 2020
We thank you for your understanding and support during the challenges of last year due to COVID-19. While we all navigate the changes that come with COVID-19, Youth Solutions will continue to deliver programs with safety and due diligence as priority.
COVID Safe Business registration
Youth Solutions is registered as a COVID Safe Business.
We remain committed, and are constantly working hard, to implement the necessary measures in response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic in order to protect our team of employees, volunteers, and importantly, our young people and broader community.
2020 Charity Event Postponed
After careful consultation with our Board and Fundraising Committee, Youth Solutions has made the responsible decision to postpone our 2020 Annual Charity Event, which was originally in planning for Saturday, 25 July 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have impact, we feel this decision is necessary in order to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our supporters, our team, volunteers, young people and the wider community during this time. Many of Youth Solutions’ supporters have been also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and our charity does not wish to place further strain on affected members of the community at this time.
Instead, Youth Solutions will plan for our 2021 Annual Charity Event, securing Saturday 31 July 2021, at The Cube, Campbelltown Catholic Club for the celebration. We’d like to particularly thank the Campbelltown Catholic Club and its teams for their support, flexibility and understanding in relation to this matter. We’d also like to thank all of the businesses, organisations and individuals who support our Charity Event each year.
As we plan for the 2021 Charity Event your support will be more important than ever to Youth Solutions, to help us continue our important work with our region’s young people.
Want to register your interest now? Contact Amanda: amanda@youthsolutions.com.au | 0432 561 235.
A message from the CEO and team:
The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has been affecting our community, and indeed the world, for quite some time now. But our Youth Solutions team remains as committed as ever to supporting our community, particularly through this challenging time. We are fluidly adapting our supports to meet the changing needs of our young people and community, while also continuing to adjust how we deliver our services in order to protect the health and safety of our service users, stakeholders and broader community.
Over the past month, as we continue to adapt our services, a few highlights stand out. We have:
This month we have also made the difficult decision to postpone our Youth Solutions Charity Golf Day and Ladies Movie Night until early 2021. We know that this is the best decision in order to protect the health and wellbeing of our event supporters, as well as the broader community. We look forward to revealing more details of these 2021 events to you really soon; and what a celebration these events will be!
We remain very proud of our community for the way in which it has adapted to the challenges of COVID-19 and has prioritised health and safety, while still demonstrating the support and community spirit for which Macarthur and Wingecarribee are renowned for.
We’d like to particularly thank our committed Board, Fundraising Committee, Youth Advisory Group and other volunteers for their ongoing support, hard work and flexibility at this time.
Special thanks must also be given to our great supporters – our charity and events sponsors; project funders; financial and event prize donors; event attendees; those who work with us on our programs; the people who share our message with their contacts and our share our passion for preventing drug and alcohol related harm to our young people; the people who follow us on social media and all the people who have and continue to back Youth Solutions in various, incredible ways.
But perhaps most importantly, we’d like to thank the young people and stakeholders that we work with in the delivery of our programs. It’s a tough time for many of you, but we hope you take comfort in knowing that we are still here and together we can get through this. There is always support available.
So, remember to keep supporting one another and to reach out (to us or to any community service) if you need some support during this time. We are in this together.
– Geraldine Dean, CEO, and the Youth Solutions team
A message from the CEO and team:
In these uncertain times, Youth Solutions remains committed to putting in place the necessary measures in response to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic in order to protect our team of employees, volunteers, and importantly young people and broader community.
We are also equally committed to working together and supporting each other during these challenging times. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on the usual way we do our work, our team wishes to reassure you that we are still here and are particularly focused on working to support our community and our young people during this pandemic.
Firstly, we must acknowledge that this is a difficult time for all people in our community. While some have been more impacted than others, this health crisis and its flow-on effects have left no part of our community or country untouched.
Our team has worked to put together a web page detailing some of the support services available for those who are particularly struggling or in need of help and support. We hope this may help you to navigate some of the information and links to various support services available.
COVID-19 Support Services: youthsolutions.com.au/get-help/covid-19-support-services/.
Further to the measures detailed in our statement last week (see below) Youth Solutions has been scaling up its response to the unfolding situation.
Some of these new measures are further detailed below:
We are maintaining our flexibility and regularly re-assessing and amending our operations in line with the changing guidelines and circumstances.
It is important, during these times, that we continue to support one another (safely, with social distancing in place). With this in mind, where possible and if able, we encourage you to support the local businesses and organisations in our community, particularly those who support Youth Solutions and other charities in this regions.
Our team also hopes to remind you that these challenges will not last forever and we look forward to celebrating and catching up with our young people and supporters, face-to-face, on the other side of this pandemic.
In the meantime, we encourage to you to please continue to reach out to us as we continue working hard to support our community and deliver our services.
In line with the impact of COVID-19 and emerging guidelines from government and health authorities, Youth Solutions is continually reviewing and assessing its operations to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of its staff, volunteers, stakeholders, service users and the broader community.
We are committed to implementing the appropriate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to ultimately protect the most vulnerable members of our community.
Our Service currently remains open, as we regularly re-assess our operations in line with these changing guidelines and circumstances.
Like many other charities and community services, Youth Solutions is enacting its Business Continuity Plan, alongside rigorous risk management processes, to implement a range of measures to keep our Service, its people and the wider community safe.
Some of these measures have included:
Youth Solutions will issue further statements or updates about changes to operations, as necessary.
Our charity also understands that it is a difficult time for many people in our community. If you or someone you know is struggling and needs someone to talk to, there are a range of 24-hour telephone counselling services available:
For more information specifically about the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the dedicated NSW Health page: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/alerts/Pages/coronavirus-faqs.aspx or phone the National Coronavirus Health Information Line 1800 020 080.
Youth Solutions is a health promotion and youth drug and alcohol prevention charity. For more information about Youth Solutions, or for drug and alcohol education, information, referral, or the current activities of Youth Solutions: (p) 4628 2319, (e) info@youthsolutions.com.au (w) www.youthsolutions.com.au.
Media contact: Amanda Dillon, Community Relations and Communications Coordinator, 4628 2319, amanda@youthsolutions.com.au.
