The organisation has been recognised in the community group of the year category. 

Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN project officer Vanessa O'Loughlin said the team were pleased to be considered as a leading organisation in state.

“We are pleased to be seen as one of the leading organisations and hope – through the recognition – people know what we are doing and see that there are many opportunities for them to become involved,” she said. “But, we do not do our work for the recognition. We get it through seeing results for the young people we work with and help.” 

Ms O'Loughlin said the team was passionate about supporting vulnerable young people and helping them have rewarding lives. 

“All our work is around supporting vulnerable young people particularly to have an education or have meaningful transitions to the workplace,” she said. 

Ms O'Loughlin said the organisation has many supportive programs aimed at helping young people have valuable experiences and develop skills. 

“One program is structured workplace learning support where we have asked businesses to put on young people to both gain valuable experiences and try new industries,” she said. “Our youth mentoring program has grown considerably. We’ve taken it from an in-school program to reaching young people who are disengaged and are at risk of entering the justice system. 

“There’s also many early literacy components with reading buddies and Let’s Read. They’re two of our strongest programs where we were seeing a large number of kids starting school that simply weren’t ready and behind the state and national standard.”  

Ms O'Loughlin said early prevention was fundamental to a young person’s future.

“Without that early intervention, youth workers, the housing crisis and social impacts that we are seeing in young adults will continue,” she said.

The next round of judging to determine the finalists will take place on August 29.