The Orange Youth Hub has kept teenagers and young adults entertained throughout the school holidays with activities including 10 pin bowling, a visit to Lake Canobolas as well as a colour run.
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On Thursday afternoon, bubble soccer is on the the agenda. However, the hub's project manager Jarrad Szczudlo said a close eye will be kept on the weather, particularly wind speeds, because it involves participants wearing an inflatable ball.
On Wednesday, the participants got to play virtual reality games with five head sets loaned to the hub and on Tuesday they had a water fight with a dodge ball style game using water bombs.
"We've been averaging 23 a day and [Tuesday] we had 36," Mr Szczudlo said.
"During the big events that can pop up to the 40s."
However, he said the most popular events are the Friday night pool competitions with games of pool and pizza that take place during the school term.
"On those nights we get up to 50," Mr Szczudlo said.
This Friday night will be a movie night with an old-fashioned popcorn machine.
"It's just a place to hang out and chill out," Mr Szczudlo said.
Upcoming events include touch football, geocaching - which will bet a treasure hunt involving navigation around Orange.
Next Wednesday will be Australia Day and Thursday will be a movie day for regular participants who will be taken to Orange Civic Theatre to see a movie at no cost to them or their guardians.
Mr Szczudlo said there are a lot of activities for children aged 12 years and under in Orange but not much for teenagers and young adults so the Youth Hub is for people aged from 12 to 24 years, and participants have freedom to come and go.
"It's a drop in place, they can come and go as they please," he said.
"We want to increase the independence for the teenagers."
However, he said there is a bus service that can pick-up and drop-off participants all across Orange.
Not only does it enable people living further away to access the Garema Road centre but it also gives them a safe way home, especially at night.
He said a lot of the participants come because they want a social outlet but they also get teenagers and young adults be referred to the centre to help them deal with anxiety. For those participants Mr Szczudlo said he opens early so they can get used to the space before other people arrive.
The youth hub has been operating during the afternoons in the school holidays but Mr Szczudlo said it will operate from 4pm to 7pm during the school term.
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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.
