Children and families from across Orange met with NSW Minister for Regional Youth Bronnie Taylor on Saturday to discuss issues such as making sport and recreation more widely available and accessible for regional communities.
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Ms Taylor visited the Orange PCYC, Waratah's Sports Ground and Orange Girl Guides throughout the day to talk to people while working towards a Regional Youth Strategy, which would look as issues such as regional transport, connectivity and mental health.
"We're in the middle of starting with the youth frame work and we're going to set up a youth task force and that's all happening in the very near future," Ms Taylor said.
"I'm really keen to look at early intervention services and to make our communities a place where young people know where to go and how to access those services that they need."
She said work was already underway to address some issues such as through the Active Kids program, which saw more than 50,000 vouchers redeemed in the Central West and Orana in an almost 50 per cent uptake of the program.
From July 1 it would increase to two vouchers per year.
As well as meeting with families, Ms Taylor, who is also the Minister for Mental Health and Women also visited LikeMind on Friday, where she announced a continuation of funding, she met with other people who delivered mental health services, and she attended a women's forum on Saturday evening.
Orange Netball Association president Jane Dennis was among the people who met with Ms Taylor on Saturday morning.
"I was talking to her about the use of the [Active Kids] vouchers and just helping people field the cost of playing and we are always looking at funding to help with the costs of the courts," Mrs Dennis said.
She said the association had 12 indoor and outdoor netball courts but with about 2000 registered junior and senior players it has applied to have another four courts built to cater for their needs.
Mayor Reg Kidd also spoke of the need to extend the PCYC complex when he met with Ms Taylor at the centre on Saturday morning.
"We've got to go bigger, there's no doubt about it, netball's so popular," Cr Kidd said.
"I imagine the way things are going we could almost double the size of the stadium particularly looking at the growth in netball, indoor hockey, and gymnastics."
Senior Constable Helen Baker and Kaitlin Neuling from Orange PCYC raised other issues and said there needed to be a more holistic approach to helping young people and addressing issues they have at home, and more funding was needed to help disengaged youth.
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
