A LACK of funding has left Melton youth with one less place to go, with the Street Surfer bus to cease operation on June 30.
The bus was a mobile communal space for youth to watch movies, play games, and meet and make new friends.
Cr Bob Turner, who started the ‘surfer bus’ initiative with his wife Val 10 years ago, said it was too costly to maintain the bus and there was a lack of volunteers to help run it. “If we wanted to continue, we’d have to look at replacing the bus and that’s a big expense, around $7000. It’s hard to get that money.”
Cr Turner hoped that without the bus, more youth would go to The Gap, a drop-in youth centre on Graham Street.
“When the Street Surfer started we’d get 100-150 kids per night come through the bus. We had 12 volunteers who were in and out and about 40 people helping out over the years.
“We’ve had great support from the community in Melton, from businesses and from council to get the bus up and running.
“It’s sad that it’s ending. It’s a big project for us; it was a great learning curve for how to get involved in the community. This was my wife’s idea, but we had a really strong committee of people who helped us get up and running.”
