Employment program set to swim into next phase

The Port Hedland YMCA Swim for Life program is set to branch out across the region and the State after receiving a $500,000 funding boost from the Regional Development Council.

The first-time employment program which trains indigenous young people as lifeguards was born at the Gratwick Aquatic Centre in Port Hedland five years ago, and has won a number of community awards since.

YMCA youth engagement and employment manager Tim Turner said the funding was validation of the effectiveness of the program his team had created.

“We grew this program from nothing a few years ago, and look at it now, it’s been proven to work well and this shows what can happen if the community gets behind something,” he said.

“It shows that first-time employment programs have guts, and that it is a really effective way of creating young leaders in our indigenous youth.

“We’ve had expressions of interest in expanding the program from all over the country and this funding means we can finally do just that.”