Dear Ann

I would like to thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the Sunbury Street Surfer Bus. Without your help and assistance the Bus would have had to travel a Rocky Road.

You have further demonstrated your committment to the bus by volunteering your valuable time to assist in the running of the bus on a Friday evening.

Your assistance is greatly valued, thanks for everything Ann.

Pat Hill
Sunbury Street Surfer Bus

A YOUTH centre on a bus will hit the road in Sunbury by August after the project snared a $15,000 State Government grant.

Community Services Minister Christine Campbell, who made the announcement in Sunbury last week, said the money would be used to convert a bus donated by private company WestTrans into a multi- purpose youth centre on wheels complete with sports equipment, video games and a tea and coffee area.

Ms Campbell said Sunbury youth had lobbied Premier Steve Bracks with `persistence' for the bus.`The Premier gets so many requests for funding but the arguments put forward by the youth of Sunbury were so articulate and well presented that when Cabinet visited here last year the bus was the one thing Mr Bracks kept talking about,' Ms Campbell said.`Because of its mobility the program can be very flexible in its approach to assisting young people and can adapt to needs as they arrive.'

Project campaigner Pat Hill said the bus, called the Sunbury Street Surfer, aimed to address youth boredom, combat alcohol and drug use and prevent youth suicide.

Police officers, youth workers and volunteers would ride on the bus, which will operate on Friday night and offer free barbecue dinners. `I really do have to thank the community for getting behind the bus,'Ms Hill said.`I went to people and I said we've got to do something to help our youth. I really believe so much is going to come out of this.'

Tullamarine Labor MP Liz Beattie said the project would make a big difference to the lives of young people.

Hume Council pledged its support for the project with a $5000 donation from money raised at a recent charity golf day at Goonawarra Golf Club.

Sunbury Downs Secondary Col lege raised $200 for the bus and will also hand over a $2000 grant it recently received from Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court.

The bus project was a three-way initiative between Ms Hill, Sunbury Community Health Centre drug and alcohol counsellor Simone Karklins and Hume Council family liaison officer Leigh Fisher. Mr Fisher said the idea for the project came when Ms Hill saw on television a Street Surfer Bus that operated in Brimbank.`We were counselling Pat one day and said, `well, what do you want or need to do to change things',' he said. `She looked at the television and saw the bus and said that's it. That's what we need in Sunbury.' `She then spent eight months on the bus learning the ins and outs of it and then Simone and I worked with her to put the whole thing together.'

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