EXCITING OPPORTUNITY FOR NEXT GENERATION OF EVENT PLANNERS

Mackay Regional Council is bringing The Push, an organisation famous for fostering youth-led events, to the Mackay region to provide an exciting opportunity to young people.

The Push is an Australian youth music organisation and registered charity based in Melbourne.

For more than three decades, they have supported millions of young people to access contemporary music programs and events.

And now, thanks to an exciting council Youth Development initiative, they are headed to Mackay to impart their event planning wisdom to young people in a workshop series called Firecracker.

Mayor Greg Williamson said Firecracker would be a series of youth focused event workshops that would upskill young people with an interest in running events in our region.

He said The Push would partner with council’s Youth Development team and the MECC to deliver the workshops. “Young people will be coming together with like minded peers and will learn the skills to run their own event in the Mackay region,” Mayor Williamson said.

“The workshops will cover everything from concept development and brainstorming to logistics, budgets, venue bookings and marketing,” he said.

“This really is a tremendous free opportunity which has very real future benefits for our region.

“Council’s Youth Development team has recently undertaken a project called YOL1000 where they had conversations with 1000 young people about their experience of growing up and living in the Mackay region.

“350 of those young people said if they could change something in our region, it would be to have more entertainment options.

“This program will give our youth the tools to run events that will provide more youth-targeted entertainment.

“The program also offers seed funding, so young people can come along with their ideas and, hopefully by the end of the workshop series, they can bring some actual events to fruition.”

The Push CEO, Kate Duncan said the team was excited to be coming to Mackay and looked forward to working with a host of passionate young people.

Members of the Mackay Orchid Society took a road trip to Rockhampton

Flower power! Nineteen blossoming members of the Mackay Orchid Society took a petal-packed trip to Rockhampton to explore other gardens and greenhouses. They got to see how other growers do things, from planting to potting, fertilising to displaying. The group even visited places from North Rockhampton to Yeppoon, covering every hill and dale along the way!

Talk about spreading the love, the group was joined by other flower aficionados from Bundaberg, Blackwater, Pioneer River Orchid & Plants Assoc, and Gladstone. Thanks to Gladstone's hospitality, everyone got to ride on their petal-packed coach, even though it was stuffed with all the flowers purchased during the two-day trip.

Kudos to the Rockhampton Orchid Society for such a well-organised weekend, with morning teas and Saturday lunch for a whopping 160 people. The group even enjoyed dinner on Saturday night and lunch on Sunday at the Calligan Park Jockey Club. What a blooming great time! Don't miss out on the Mackay and District Orchid Society's Autumn Orchid Show at the Sporting Wheelies Hall. The show will be in full bloom from Friday, March 31st from 8 am to 4 pm and Saturday, April 1st from 8 am to 3 pm. There will be orchids galore, along with pots, potting medium, tags, and more. You'll even get to see orchid culture demonstrations and enter a raffle for a chance to win some flower power! Don't forget your $2 coin donation at the door.

“We’re so pleased to be heading to Mackay to deliver workshops that provide young people with the skills, confidence and networks needed to stage all-ages events in their local community,” Ms Duncan said.

“Participation in programs like this not only gives young people important opportunities to build their connections to community, but also has a direct influence on the creativity and culture of a region, ensuring it reflects the unique needs of young people,” she said.

The workshops with be held in the Jubi- lee Community Centre on the last three Wednesdays in March:

• March 15, 4pm to 6pm

• March 22, 4pm to 6pm

• March 29, 4pm to 6pm

Participants must sign up for all three workshops to be eligible. To apply, email elisa. crooks@mackay.qld.gov.au or text 0457 245 069.

Workshops are free and snacks will be provided.