Clubhouse Lismore stands ready to help young people bounce back from the pandemic and is encouraging youth to get out of the house and back into the clubhouse to see their friends. Lismore Clubhouse has re-opened and Clubhouse Ballina is re-opening soon.

Social Futures is a not-for-profit organisation that runs the two youth clubhouses. The pandemic’s impact on youth Lismore Clubhouse youth worker Sean Spencer says youth in the Northern Rivers have suffered because of the lockdowns and the pandemic.

“I’ve kept in touch with the young people and parents and the pandemic has had some severe impacts on young people,” Mr Spencer said.

“It’s been heartbreaking to hear some of the stories about some young people and the negative impacts the pandemic has had on them. Some of the young people don’t want to come out of their house and are now really withdrawn – super withdrawn even from their own families. “Some of them have gone nocturnal. Their sleeping patterns are out. They are not sleeping properly, they are up all night on screens, they even see the sun come up.”

Social Futures’ Family Connect and Support service, which helps school children and their families facing challenges, says a third of its referrals now concern children who don’t want to go back to school post-lockdown.

“It goes across all ages of children from primary to teens, and often affects children who may have been struggling a little before the pandemic, but now they are dealing with increased anxiety and are really struggling to go to school,” said Family Connect and Support manager Fiona Halligan.

“This is down to many factors, many families have historical trauma and other things going on in the home, but Covid has added another layer of complexity.

“Not going to school, being at home and isolated from friends and learning has aggravated pre-existing anxiety for many children. It’s also of course been challenging for parents, trying to work and do homeschooling.”

The Family Connect and Support program and the clubhouse are supporting young people to return to their pre-pandemic routines. Social Futures also delivers the Headspace youth mental health service in Lismore and Tweed Heads and Mijung Jarjums Kids and Mind, which supports children and young people up to 18 years who are at risk of developing mental illness, and their families.

This week is Children’s Week* and Wednesday, October 27, is Children’s Day in Australia and Sean Spencer says it is timely to remind the community what Clubhouse Lismore offers young people. For the past five years, Clubhouse Lismore has been running after-school science, technology, engineering, arts and maths workshops for 12- to 18-year-olds.

“We have a whole bunch of robots, really cute and fun robots, we learn how to program them, how to drive them around and do challenges and things with the robots,” he said.

“We have these things called Little Bits, which are snap-together components so you can make up like little electronic gadgets from scratch. We also have Makie-Makie which are these chips that you plug into computers, so you have to program your own games simply and easily – it’s easily accessible for everyone.

“We’ve even made a hand-held gaming computer console from scratch by soldering all the components to the motherboard. And we have a voice homepod like Siri, that we can make and solder from scratch. “We also have film and photography workshops on the iPads and using cameras. Young people can also learn how to make electronic music and record their own songs on the computers. And we have our own green screen and can do a whole lot of awesome stuff with that – so come out and have some fun!”

Mr Spencer said pre-pandemic the clubhouse had an ‘awesome happening vibe’ and he was keen to welcome back the 10 to 20 young people who regularly dropped in afterschool and newcomers. Since the Lismore lockdown only about five youth a day have been attending.

Clubhouse Lismore is open 3.30pm to 6pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and youth can visit on a drop-in basis. It runs from the basement of the Lismore Music Conservatorium, at 152 Keen St Lismore.

WHERE FAMILIES CAN GET HELP

Families and young people seeking support can approach their GP and/or school counsellor. They can also contact:

• Headspace, for young people 12 and older. Lismore headspace – (02) 6625 0200, Tweed Heads headspace on (07) 5589 8700.

• Families with younger children can call Social Futures’ Mijung Jarjums program for children’s stress and anxiety support.

If you are a young person or child and you don’t feel comfortable speaking to someone you know about your challenges, you can call a help line:

• Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800

• Headspace on 1800 650 890