Friday, June 29, 2012

Juggling youth affairs

Once he belted out ballads and performed circus tricks to help kids beat petrol sniffing.

Now Adrian McCann will juggle his biggest role yet as Mission Australia’s new Youth Services Manager for Darwin and Palmerston.

The laid back father of two, has more than ten years industry experience and developed the highly successful Desert ED project, which brought music, circus and positive health messages to young indigenous people in communities across Western and South Australia.  

“It was a great program that engaged young people in healthy living in a fun and entertaining way,” Mr McCann said.

Born and raised in Northern Ireland, his childhood memories full of frosty mornings are poles apart from the hot and humid weather that Territorians experience for most of the year.

With a double degree in Social Science and Community Development, Adrian’s passion for working with young people stems from teaching placements and creating youth development projects.

“I’m really looking forward to working with my new team and other youth service providers across the region to identify what areas and programs need improvement or expansion.”

Mission Australia has offices in Darwin and Palmerston and run a range of programs that help young people engaged in dangerous behaviour or at risk of homelessness, stay on the straight and narrow.

They also manage popular singing competition, Urban Quest, which aims to help young people build self esteem through music and mentoring.

“I want to be proactive, and make and contribute to programs so they count and help the lives of young people.”

Whether or not that means circus acts for Darwin and Palmerston kids, we’ll have to wait and see.