The mood was buoyant and busy, as the lads joshed and jostled, set about lugging timber and sorting tools and - most importantly - artfully dodging the reporter's recording device by hiding behind any available cover, or cheekily offering their unwilling mates up as interview subjects.

One such young bloke, 17-year-old Tremaine Cochrane, was leaning against a vehicle with a buddy. The buddy didn't want to get involved, but Mr Cochrane was willing to share his thoughts.

"I heard about this course and at first I wasn't wasn't really going to do it, but then I read the leaflet and signed up to have a go and hopefully I can get a job out of it. I's really hands-on, we're doing a bit of cementing, we're knocking a barbecue up, some tables and chairs, and the boys inside are going to do an Aboriginal mural."

Mr Cochrane said his dream was to become a boilermaker and save money. "A home loan deposit, that's my first goal. I want to secure some land out of town, out near the river somewhere."

On another day, in another month, some of these young men - all of whom have left school - may have been sitting around doing nothing, earning nothing, looking at a future of not much. Mr Cochrane reckoned he'd either be sitting around or getting into mischief. Or perhaps a bit of both.

The course he and the others are currently undertaking - a 10-week Certificate II in Construction, followed by a four-week course to knock-off the easier Certificate I - is a joint venture between TAFE and OAMS.

OAMS has been awarded a five-year lease on the community centre, and the medical service's operations manager Michael Newman has a vision of the centre being more widely used for information, meetings, gatherings of parents and young children and learning.

Newman hopes to bridge the gap between training and finding a job, and holding onto that job on a long-term basis by displaying punctuality, a strong work ethic and a devotion to quality.

Dubbo-based TAFE teacher Colin Walsh spends his weeks travelling around Western NSW teaching construction skills to young Indigenous men. The sparkle in his eyes tells you all you need to know about how much he loves his work.

"It's all about engaging the boys, as you can see," Mr Walsh said, pointing to the hive of activity about him. "You don't flog them, it's not like a classroom. We cover 15 units of book work, and there is no such thing as failing."

On the whiteboard in the community centre, the boys have just written a message in black marker.

It's a giant heart with the words "We love U Colin Walsh".

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