With the help of their friends, two Year 7 students from Bega High School pulled together an afternoon of entertainment for the residents of Hillgrove House, leaving the audience with smiles on their faces.
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Students Alyssa Lockerbie and Ayden Neyle, who are part of the Youth Frontiers program, decided to organise a concert at the aged care facility partly to raise awareness of issues the residents might be facing such as depression and loneliness.
The event was held on Monday, October 21, where the two students' friends and the Bega Valley Youth Choir performed music from the 1940s to '60s to a full room of residents.
"I thought something might go wrong, but nothing really went wrong!" Alyssa said after the concert.
One of the reasons they organised the concert at Hillgrove House was because her great-grandmother lives there.
Seeing the 95-year-old there made Alyssa want to help her and others at the facility become less lonely.
"My Nan did enjoy it a lot, she was saying stuff like how beautiful the music was," she said.
It is the end of the students' time in the Youth Frontiers program and their mentor Gabrielle Powell said they hoped to set up meetings with Hillgrove House to organise a legacy for the two, as it was their dream this concert would be run again.
"I hope more people will visit Hillgrove House," Ayden said.
"Even if it is just to talk or have a meal with them.
"Our goal was to involve the community in the concert."
Youth Frontier is a NSW government founded organisation that goes over the span of six months and helps teach life skills and builds self-confidence through support and mentoring.
This year, there are 60 Youth Frontiers mentees across the Bega Valley, which is the largest number the program has ever seen in the region.
Alyssa and Ayden both thought the program was beneficial to them.
"It was a good experience, it will definitely help us in the future," Alyssa said.
"It made me more confident because I had to speak to lots of people."
Youth Frontiers coordinator for Southern NSW Jodie Stewart said the two learned valuable skills including problem solving, improvisation and how to draw in stakeholders while becoming event managers.
"It was an amazing effort by two incredible young people that worked very hard to bring this into fruition," she said.
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
