Nillumbik/Banyule Term 4 Graduation

On Friday 4th December, we held the Term 4 Operation Newstart Graduation Ceremony at Eltham YMCA Leisure Centre. It was a wonderful morning spent celebrating the achievements of the seven young people who attended the program this term. While there were many challenges along the way, each individual gained a number of new skills and achievements, which we hope they can continue to use in the future. The Graduation was facilitated by Operation Newstart Victoria's Executive Officer Phil Wheatley. It was well attended by student's families, school support staff, individuals we worked alongside throughout the program as well as other members of the community.

Each student gave a speech on an activity that was important to them, outlining what we did as well as what they learnt from it and can take back to their school or home environment. These were all done very well and it was evident the preparation that had been undertaken. As well as receiving their own certificates, the students presented certificates of appreciation to those individuals and organisations that really supported us throughout the program. We were also able to donate the new bikes to representatives from the Open Doors program and related services.

We'd like to give a big thanks to the Reconnect Program at Nillumbik Health, Open Doors at Eltham YMCA and the School Focused Youth Services for the time, effort and support they put into helping the program run. We'd also like to thank the student's families and school for supporting them over the eight week program, as well as (of course) a big thank you and congratulations to the students for all their hard work and effort throughout the term. We wish them all the best in the future.