Blacktown's Youth Corroboree to connect Indigenous young people

Blacktown City Council's Emerton Leisure Centre will host a Summer Pool Party on Wednesday, 19th January as part of a Youth Corroboree program for Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander young people.
The Summer Pool Party is the first in a series of Youth Corroboree free workshops and opportunities across Blacktown City for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
The Pool Party will feature events including a Welcome to Country by Uncle Wes Marne, traditional dance performances, a music workshop, paddleboard races, beach volleyball, pool inflatables, water slide, airbrush tattooing and bead workshops.
Aimed at young people between the ages of 12 and 24 years, the Youth Corroboree program is about connecting young people to each other, to their elders while giving them access to skill-based learning opportunities and increasing their knowledge and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Alan Pendleton explains "the Youth Corroboree program is an opportunity for mainstream and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth workers to work together to bring back an element of Aboriginal culture amongst young people.
"The day at Emerton Leisure Centre will feature many traditional elements and celebrate the culture, both past and present.
"It will be the first step in supporting local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to be proud of who they are."
The Youth Corroboree program is a partnership between local community and government organisations working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and will see three more Youth Corroboree events planned for Blacktown City in 2011 as well as the Summer Pool Party in January. These events are:
⢠Hip Hop Corroboree during National Youth Week
⢠NAIDOC Corroboree during NAIDOC Week
⢠Indigenous Literacy Day during September
The Summer Pool Party event on Wednesday, 19th January 19 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designed, run and led, but open to all young people, their families, their communities and their friends.

http://www.elc.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/