Oxenford & Coomera Community and Youth Centre Inc. (2004 to present)
In 1999, an idea was floated by Pastor Derek Venski at a weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Coomera Valley to build a Youth Centre for the Oxenford Coomera area. The Club had always focused its activities on young people in the area, mainly from rural properties and hobby farms. Housing development was increasing and more young families were moving to the area.
A focus on youth proved to be a sound strategy. In 2000, a building committee was formed, including members of Pastor Derek’s church, the Oxenford Christian Fellowship, members of the Rotary Club and a local developer. Over the next four years the committee sought funding for the building of a Community Youth Centre, but it wasn’t until local resident Leo Graham bequeathed over $500,000 to the project that the committee was able to turn soil on the site.
In November, 2004 the doors of the Oxenford Coomera Community & Youth Centre (CYC) opened. After four years of hard work, partnerships were formed between the Coomera Valley Rotary Club, the Nucrush Good Neighbour Program, the Gold Coast City Council, Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children and the Oxenford Christian Fellowship. These organisations were the foundation of the Centre.
When the Centre first opened it was managed by the Oxenford Christian Fellowship until a manager was employed in 2008. Through the partnership with Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children, free social service programs were offered to many thousands of local residents and families. It is one of the few examples of social infrastructure being built before its greatest need. The area now boasts a local government-run centre which complements the community work of the CYC.
The Centre today has a great mix of community services and activities including playgroups, literacy programs, cooking classes, health nurse-run groups and family support. We also have an array of hall hirers including martial arts, dance, fitness groups, employment services, training/educational colleges, legal aid and financial counselling, and we are dedicated to hosting a number of free annual family and community events.
We also are proud to acknowledge that we are meeting our original vision of creating a “vibrant community centre that provides inclusive, innovative and sustainable programs and services improving individual and community physical, mental and emotional health & well-being”.
The centre’s Mission Statement is “to work in partnership with the community, business and government, to strive for excellence in meeting the needs of the ‘total person’, body, mind and spirit through the provision of supportive, recreational, cultural, sporting and welfare programs”.
The dedicated Management Committee still contains three of the original eight committee members- Des Lacy, Warren Edwards and Rick McElhinney.
You can visit the CYC's web site at: http://www.youthcentre.org.au/
