Riding on a wave of funding from the Sony Foundation and a swell of community support, the team from BackTrack is keen to recruit the 'face' of its new youth outreach program in Tenterfield to roll out a host of exciting initiatives.
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BackTrack's social enterprise manager Marcus Watson said that while formal qualifications would be nice, the most vital skill he's looking for is an ability to build a rapport with young people and to engage with them.
READ MORE: BackTrack youth hub coming to Tenterfield
"We're probably looking for a young Bernie Shakeshaft," Mr Watson said, referring to the founder of BackTrack Youth Works back in 2006 who saw a need to help disadvantaged youth in his community.
While Bernie Shakeshafts are few and far between, the person Mr Watson is looking for could be male or female, young or old, but with a passion to coach and mentor young people.
"We need an on-the-ground leader," he said, "maybe a diamond in the rough."
The new recruit will have lots of support from BackTrack's Armidale base and from the network of currently-five BackTrack Youth Hubs, soon to be seven once Tenterfield and Mackville are added.
The hub leaders meet face-to-race bimonthly to exchange ideas and strategies, and are always available to each other electronically.
While BackTrack has already reached out to a few worthy candidates, anyone interested in the position is encouraged to contact the organisation through its website backtrack.org.au.
BackTrack project managers have already been in town, speaking with Mayor Peter Petty and other council representatives along with local police, school principals, community leaders and youth workers.
"We're getting a lot of support," Mr Watson said.
He is coordinating with council's business development manager Harry Bolton on a site for possibly three shipping containers which will form the youth hub. Several locations including the Tenterfield Showground and the skatepark area on Crown Street have been mooted, but the final site is yet to be determined.
As the budget is tight Mr Watson said they need a location on flat land near existing services so that they're not installing electricity boxes and running plumbing.
Once the containers are dropped into place it will be up to the youth leader and local youth to modify them for use, including cutting out doors and windows and fitting them out.
One will be allocated as a Sony chill out zone equipped with Playstations, televisions and other entertainment devices. The others will serve as health service and training facilities.
Connections are already being made with health service providers, and among the training opportunities will be for positions created by the Angry Bull Trails initiative.
As such, a Crown Street location may have a synergistic advantage with Angry Bull Trails also hoping to locate its CBD trail head there.
Mr Watson said the timeframe for all this to happen is somewhat guided by the availability of a site, but he is hoping to see solid action as early as March/April.
"I'm super excited about this project. I love how the community is motivated and working together.
"We're really seeing a community with an amazing synergy and desire to get this moving quickly."
