November 10, 2007

(COBOURG, ON)- New opportunities are about to happen for Northumberland County youth as the new Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is to implement some major events, in which young people aged 15 to 25 will benefit greatly from.

Youth in Northumberland County have been commonly known for migrating from the area only to return once they have started a career and their family.  YAC, a government granted and initialized committee, was established in the fall of 2005 to strengthen the opportunities for youth including, the arts, entertainment, recreation, and employment.

The committee’s mandate evolved from compiling the recommendations of seven previous government affiliation studies of the county, as well as a master’s thesis on rural youth from Andrew Redden, a Northumberland youth studying at Queen’s University.  Wendy Curtis, the Assistant General Manager for the Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation helped establish YAC and get the committee moving forward.

“Once you have heard the voice of the youth, and respond to their needs, you make them happy and keep them in the area,” says Curtis.

YAC is acting as that voice for youth in the county.  Listening to, and talking with youth to find out what they want to make the area more attractive for residing though their twenties and early thirties.  In reaching out to the youth, YAC has been able to recognize obvious desires and are now implementing exciting opportunities, including a job fair in the spring of 2006 in which over two thousand youth are anticipated.  Other initiatives include a new scholarship to help individuals go on to post secondary education, and a youth health day.

“An important part of retaining youth, is engaging youth,” said Curtis of YAC’s remarkable importance in the community.  “This is an organization that has very quickly advanced itself into a productive and necessary entity.”