Michael Easton has lived in Seymour with his family for five years.
Having previously worked for the Uniting Church, Mr Easton, like others, sees the need for young people and their families to have a safe place to be together.
Although he has now finished his role with the Uniting Church, he believes the need he identified during that time still exists and he is looking at launching a community-owned and operated not-for-profit fun centre in Seymour.
“My aim is to provide a safe place for families to enjoy life together rather than providing intensive case management support,” Mr Easton said.
“It could be a venue that could be flexible in its structure. During the day kids are at school hopefully, so it could be a place for preschool families with a café.
“The café would be amazing as a training café. Other parts of Victoria I have been in have had the local TAFE run a training café.
“In the afternoons it could be for primary school and early high school (students) and in the evenings it could be for high school with table tennis and pool tables and that sort of thing.”
Mr Easton hopes the centre could be open five or six days a week, providing a reliable drop-in point for youth of all ages.
“My dream is that, yes, it would be available longer into the evenings, maybe to 9pm or 10pm or something like that for the weekend times … so it really can be a place that people can hang out,” he said.
Mr Easton set up a stall at the Seymour Community Day at Chittick Park in February to gauge interest.
He ran a questionnaire, which had about 20 respondents, gauging what age groups and activities the community would like to see.
He said most respondents on the day were primary school age, which was reflective of the event.
The two activities that stood out were mini golf and movies. A mini golf course was set up on the day for kids to play with.
“Mini golf is something we could explore with a whole range of other things like trampolines, a café, play centre or climbing wall,” Mr Easton said.
Now, he is ready to gather the people who expressed their interest and run a trial.
There are several considerations including funding, venue acquisition, insurance and sponsorship and Mr Easton welcomes collaboration with individuals or community groups.
“We are still looking for people who are interested in helping out in some way,” he said.
“We will see where it goes from there.”
Legally, for the enterprise to be community owned and operated he needs at least five people to form a co-operative.
However, he is currently engaged with Mitchell Shire Council looking for ways to simplify the process to get a trial under way.
Originally, Mr Easton had planned for the trial to occur during the coming school holidays.
However, the Seymour Youth Room, which he was considering using, will be closed due to upgrades taking place at the Seymour Sports and Aquatics Centre, so he is now looking for an alternative venue.
To take part in Mr Easton’s survey, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HKGBXLJ