No Ordinary People - Down the Track: Empowering Marginalised Youth

In this episode of No Ordinary People, host Jade Harley speaks with Lana Masterton, founder and CEO of Down the Track, a grassroots organisation based in Lake Cargelligo, NSW, dedicated to supporting disengaged and marginalised youth in remote communities.

Lana shares her personal journey and the deep challenges faced by young people in her region - many of whom are impacted by trauma, poverty, racism, and exposure to family and domestic violence. Through innovative, culturally respectful programs, Down the Track fosters belonging, resilience, and empowerment.

Their early intervention model is designed to meet young people where they’re at - offering flexible, individualised support that adapts as needs change. Whether through diversionary activities, education, training, or mentoring, the organisation helps young people build the skills and confidence to make better decisions, regulate emotions, and pursue real, sustainable employment.

Influenced by BackTrack Youth Works in Armidale, Down the Track’s approach is rooted in community connection, cultural acknowledgment, and long-term impact. It’s not just about reducing youth crime - it’s about creating safe spaces where young people can explore their hopes and dreams, and build a future on their own terms.

This is a story of grit, vision, and the power of showing up - one young person at a time.

Down The Track Contact Details

Website - downthetrack.org.au

Email - admin@downthetrack.org.au

Facebook - www.facebook.com/LCMBDownthetrack

Instagram - @downthetrack_

No Ordinary People is produced by Jade Harley, Director of Impact at UnLtd.
This podcast shares the real stories of charity founders driving change for children and communities across Australia, especially those impacted by trauma, poverty, racism, and family and domestic violence.

Every story is a reminder: hope is built one small act at a time.

This episode was recorded at the Musicians Making a Difference (MMAD) Studio - an Australian charity that transforms young lives through music.

Brand identity and cover design created by my beautiful friends at Cocogun.

Got a story to share or want to get involved? Reach out to jade@unltd.org.au
Follow, rate, and share to help amplify these voices.
Connect: Instagram @noordinarypeople_podcast and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jadeharley

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to No Ordinary People Podcast
• 1:49 Meet Lana Masterton: A Journey of Transformation
• 5:57 The Birth of Down the Track: Addressing Community Issues
• 12:14 Building Belonging: The Circle of Courage
• 18:12 Social Enterprises: Creating Pathways for Youth
• 24:03 Success Stories: Impacting Lives and Communities
• 30:02 The Future of Down the Track: Generational Change

Transcript

Jade:
Welcome to No Ordinary People. I'm Jade, and I'm on a mission to give positivity a voice by sharing stories of everyday people doing extraordinary things. They're a reminder of the power we ALL have to make the world a better place.

Jade
This podcast was recorded at the Musicians Making a Difference Studio, a charity that transforms young lives through music. You're listening to No Ordinary People, and I'm your host, Jade Harley. I'd like to start by acknowledging the Darkinyung people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we're recording today. I pay my deep respects to elders past, present, and future, and recognise their continuing connection and contribution to this beautiful land and the waters.

I extend this respect to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples listening, and I recognise that First Nations sovereignty was never ceded. This continent always was and always will be Aboriginal land. Today, I'm joined by Lana Masterton, aka Larn to her friends. I will call her Larn today. She's the Founder and CEO at Down the Track, an incredible organisation running programs for disengaged and marginalised young people in the remote communities of Lake Cargelligo and Murrin Bridge in Central West New South Wales. Down The Track programs are addressing high unemployment, low self-esteem levels of young people, unacceptable crime and incarceration levels amongst young people in the region, concerning levels of drug and alcohol abuse, high levels of domestic and family violence, poor mental health, and high suicide rates. But ultimately, they are looking to increase positive pathways to education, employment, and community participation.

Down Track's been running since 2016. And I just want to kick off with just a personal nod. So the reason that I've got Larn here today and the reason that I'm doing this podcast is I'm in awe of the work that Larn and her team do. She's an absolute superstar and I believe that we need to have more of these stories out in the world. There are amazing people doing incredible work every day. And I'm really chuffed to be sitting here with you today, Larn. So welcome. If you feel comfortable, maybe tell me a little bit about little Larn.

Where did she grow up? What was it like? And how did those early experiences shape who you are today and the work you do?

Larn:
Well, thanks for having me, Jade. This is bloody amazing. Like to get to hang out with you for the day. Awesome. but little Larn, I guess the best way to describe little Larn would be misunderstood, wild, very wild. and just trying to find her place of belonging. So early on I grew up in around Newcastle area. You know, father was an alcoholic.

I lived out of home and all that kind of stuff. So not probably the best start to life. And then later on got into, you know, some naughty stuff like getting in trouble with police and drugs and alcohol and all those wild things. So yeah, that, that pretty much captures little arm.

Jade:
And you know, fast forwarding to today, you moved to Lake Cargelligo, which is, I'll get you to explain, but it's quite a way out there. It's quite remote, and it was meant to be a short stint. So you're still there today. What happened?

Larn:
I fell in love. I absolutely fell in love with the community. So Lake Cargelligo is this amazing place that it's surrounded by red dust and this massive lake. And once you're there, it gets in your blood and you feel this connection to the community. It's something special and something I've never felt before. So we are literally smack bang in the middle of New South Wales. The lake itself.

Lake Cargelligo is eight times the size of Sydney Harbour, just for some context around this inland lake system. And it is a super cool place. So out there, the main kind of work that you can attract is agricultural work. So that's where we kind of focus when I first kicked off.

Jade:
And what led you to start down the track? Was there a particular moment or set of circumstances that kind of woke you up and went, this work is needed and I'm the person to do it. What was that?

Larn:
Absolutely. So when I first moved to Lake, I just noticed this revolving door of young people getting locked up. And Lake is a very, very small community. Mean, in a hundred K radius, you're probably looking at 1200 people. So really small, the township itself, probably three to 400 people. And there was between five and eight young people being locked up every week. And I just thought, this is silly.

Everywhere you went in like everyone was talking about how bad the issue was, but no one was actually doing anything about it. And I guess in myself, I kind of saw a lot of my younger self in these kids. and I thought, bugger it, like, I'm just going to roll up my sleeves and have a crack myself. Like this might go very poorly, but at least I can say I tried and I, know, yeah. So ended up working with a core group of about six young fellows initially, and I just literally rocked up to their door, knocked on it and just said, you don't know me. I don't know you, but I reckon that, you know, we could go out and do some stuff together. And, so I took them out fencing the very next day, out to this remote property and we started fencing and they'd never fenced before in their life. And I was like, this took a little portable barbecue out and we just started yarning while we're fencing.

And then that's when I started to realize the root cause of what was actually going on for them. there was some big issues that were underlying all this behavior that was coming out in other ways. So drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, family violence, overcrowded houses, which meant that the kids didn't want to be at home. So all those contributing factors led to the behavior that the community then saw.

Jade:
And what were those issues?
And what was the early community response? You you weren't born there, you're coming in, you you're dealing with these kids, you're providing these opportunities. Was the pushback or was, you were the arms open? What was that initial response like?

Larn:
Think there was standing back, arms folded and watching was the initial kind of feel. And they were like, what's this little blonde girl doing? Like, what's she doing in our community? But I think we started off with that core group of six and it built and it built and it built. And this was all me volunteering at the time, like just doing something to get the kids involved. And then once they started talking to each other, they were like, yeah, can I come out too? And it got to a point where.

You know, another organisation lent us a bus so I could transport more kids out to do more fencing, teaching more skills. got a training organization to come on board. They also, you know, helped us out there with training the kids up and doing it right with lots of kids. Like it's hard to get across everyone, I guess. So yeah, it was, it was fantastic. And we ended up after three months, we did like 280 kilometers of fencing. So, and no lockups in that time. So we didn't have a lockup for two years.

Jade:
And you saw that as an immediate, you know, that, was that the goal? I suppose you wanted to, you wanted to test whether if you, if you, you know, create these programs or get these kids on country and get them engaged in things when they've been disengaged, you had obviously a bit of a theory that that would make an impact, but was it purposeful or were you just getting up every day and doing what you saw needed to be done?

Larn:
We knew that engagement was key, engagement and learning a new skill. you know, the fact that someone trusted them and believed in them to do this, such a, it wasn't a planned thing. It just happened very organically. um, I think there was a lot of trust there initially, like, you know, we'd be going out on the fansign, we're using hydraulic tools and things like that. And this stuff's worth a lot of money.

You got farmers that are trusting me to take these kids onto property. There was a lot of, you know, it could have went very badly.

Jade:
But it didn't. mean, look, know that Bernie from BACtrack is a mentor of yours, he's on your board. And I know that obviously very affiliated with that model for people who haven't heard of BACtrack, I encourage you to go and check them out. it's BACtrack.org.au and there's a fantastic documentary called BACtrack Boys. So go and check that out. But talking about BACtrack, you know, how important was that relationship and when did that come into play and how has that impacted how you've developed the programs at Down the Track?

Larn:
Backtrack of being instrumental in, in where we are even today. I mean, I'll tell you a funny story about the first time I met Bernie. and it was the middle of summer and Lake Ajalago summer is a bloody hot, like it's over 50 degrees. so I was late going to a meeting that he was going to be at because I was actually out with kids shearing. So we were doing the shearing skills. was like, I had to run home and shower because you don't want to go to these meetings smelling like sheep. I don't know if you've been to sheep shed, but it's not pretty. And then I rushed this meeting and he kind of looked at me as I come in, he's like, you you're like, like who do you think you are? And I'm like, here we go. But afterwards he's like, how you going? What's been going on? was like, so sorry, I was late. I was out shearing with kids, like teaching them how to shear and stuff. And he was like, you, you're a bloody idiot. Like that was his initial response. Like you're crazy.

You are absolutely crazy shearing in this, this heat with kids. was like, that's where the opportunity is at the moment. So that's where we're going. it's not about like, at, when we first started out, we didn't have a lot of people giving us opportunities to take the kids out to do things on, on site. So I had to take whatever I could get back then and it was tough, but gosh, I reckon it built a hell of a lot of resistance, in those kids because when you get that sheep, that it's fighting and kicking and you're hot and you're exhausted. And, know, you're just waiting for that smokeo bell to ring or, you know, the end of the day bell to ring and you just got to get through it. You can't send a sheep down the shoe path, Sean. So it's one of those things that just teaches you that, resilience piece, which is so important.

Jade:
And I think that the thing with this is, know, we've to remember these kids, they're not showing up to school, but they're voluntarily showing up at like the crack of dawn to come out and spend a 12, 14 hour day doing hard work. what's, what's making them show up?

Larn:
I think it's the, um, the, the, the community feel that we have going on within our group. Like we, we kick off when we do sharing, it's like 4 30 start.

Jade:
Can't get any teenager out of bed before like 12. Let alone 4.30.

Larn:
So yeah, and like, think it's the whole, like we do it as a group. Like there's, there's no one left behind. We, we've got the music pumping throughout the day. We have really good like tucker. So we've always got every meal period. We've got something to look forward to. And it's just that we help each other out. Like we're not just there and I stand back with my arms folded going, yep, drag another one out. It's on there dragging them out beside them. Like it's, it's all about that togetherness and that belonging piece.

Jade:
You said, look, think belonging is a really interesting one. So I've been lucky enough to spend time with you at Down the Track and also spend time at Backtrack. And I think that's a word that, you know, kept coming up for me. was popping up from the mouths of kids. It was seen to be just so, so instrumental. I think we, you know, those of us have privileged forget that not every kid feels like a place of belonging, right? They've been kicked out of school. They've been kicked out of the local shopping center. No one wants them. Everybody labels them a bad kid. And I think, you know, the programs and the opportunities that you're giving, this is potentially the first time that anyone's opened their arms and gone, belong here and you're worth something. Like, you know, how important is that? And I know that there's a backtrack model. might get you to talk about the circle of courage, if that's okay. Cause I think that's sort of fundamental to the work that Backtrack do and yourselves and many orgs that follow this similar kind of model. So maybe tell me a little bit about that.

Larn:
So the circle of courage, it's basically if you get the balance of this right, whether you're a young person going through a hard time or an adult that's just trying to manage work, life, personal, home, all that kind of stuff, if you get this balance right, you will thrive. So it's based on belonging, mastery, independence and generosity. And it's all about, we try to bring this into every little piece of work we do it down the track.

When we're catering, it's all about we're doing it as a group. That's the belonging piece. The masteries we're learning new skills. You've got one kid that's just learning, you know, the coffee machine. You've got another kid that's learning to make this particular curry or something. And then you've got the independence piece where you can go, right, can you go out and do that? And I'm going to come in here, but I'm here if you need me, but you go and have a crack. And then we've got the generosity piece at the end where we've got, you know, this is just an example, but having food left over.

And then going, okay, let's bag this up and then let's give this to, you your grandma or let's go out and give this to, um, you know, the little trackers that we're to have this afternoon. um, that kind of stuff. That's just an example of how we would incorporate the circle of courage into a program or an activity that we're

So it's part of the fabric of everything and it's kind of top of mind in every activity. 

Jade:
I think I'm going to fast forward a little bit. So you kind of touched on the cafe. So I want to drill into that. on top of this program and this amazing work you do showing up for these kids every day, you're also, you know, really a social entrepreneur in my view. You've created these social enterprises that are providing pathways for kids and the cafe, the catering side of things is one of those. Can you tell me a little bit about...

the different social enterprises that you've got, why you set them up and what the purpose for each of them is?

Larn:
Yeah. So, look, we go wherever the kind of what the kids needs are or what they're, they're dreaming of at the time. so we do have a food truck and it's called tracking good. And there's some bloody good food that comes out of that. It is, it is good. Tucker. so that all come about with a young person that was interested in, in cooking. So it was like, this is great. Like this is, we can teach cooking while we're going. We can teach barista skills, can teach, you know, budgeting and planning and prep and everything like that, which are all key, you know, parts of everyone's lives.

Jade:
I mean, you're educating them on like, you know, project management, like business skills, but you're doing it under the guise of, you know, fun and belonging.

Larn:
That's right. Yeah. So we've got tracking good, which is, you know, we do catering. We've got the food truck that opens up three days a week to the public. it's amazing. and it's very well supported by the community. and then we've also, we do our ag stuff. So we go out, we, do shearing, fencing, land marking, mustering, whatever the need is. We can, you know, get a crew together to, to go and do that kind of stuff as well. and then we do a lot of environmental stuff. So we've got a program called track zero where we do a lot of fish studies in our lake. so we'll go out and we'll collect data for the Commonwealth or for different universities. we've got these special handmade nets that we can go out and do, fish counts where the fish don't get injured or, you know, hurt in the process. but you know, we can then go, invasive, non-invasive species. We can even tell if they're male or female through some little things that we do. So it's, it's really cool.

Jade:
And what are some of the outcomes of that? I think you've mentioned to me in some of our chats around how those activities have sparked this passion in a kid and you've seen them then take that to the next step. Are there any examples of that without naming names of kids? Just examples of that sort of spark and where that's led.

Larn:
Well, we had one young fellow that did a sharing school with us. And then 12 months later, he got a job up in like the top of Australia as a, Jackaroo. Like that's pretty amazing. Like this kid from this really small town that's never really been out of Lake Cargelligo area. Neck min, he's on a trek up top of Australia to be a Jackaroo. Like that's, that's pretty incredible.

Jade:
I think, look, so I'd love you to paint me a picture. Like, what does a typical day at Down the Track look like? You know, what are the kids doing? What kinds of activities are happening? Paint us that picture.

Larn:
Look, it changes from day to day and moment to moment. And sometimes we can have these big glorious plans and then they're all just knocked out of the park within a minute. But at the moment at Down the Track, here's what a day looks like. So food van in the morning, we're doing about six to eight catering events a week. So that keeps us very busy. So always prepping, always planning. Got the food van opened up. So we do that until just after lunch.

We close that up, we change our boots, we put our work boots on, and then we've got crews of 10, around 10 kids that all have their white cards and they go and work on our newest projects. So we've just been gifted an old pub, like a jelly go, that we're currently renovating. So we change our boots, we go over there and we get into it. doing all the bits and pieces that come with renovating a pub, taking out old carpet, knocking down walls, and learning to de-nail and build little bits and pieces. It's learned about power tools and it's been amazing. So we do that for a few hours. And then after that, we, in the afternoon time, we have just started running a new program that we call the Little Trackers. And it was kind of come about from one of our youth workers going.

We need to do something with this younger cohort. We need to start working with them a little bit earlier. So normally we'd work with kids from 10. we've now lowered that age to eight. So, and there are some kids that fall out of that age group, but we don't turn anyone away. so yeah, we started the little trackers group as an early, early intervention.

Jade:
And so, mean, look, that comes back to that community-led, like how important is the programs and the cohort that you work with, how important is that link with community, addressing community needs and being very community led.

Larn:
It's, it's, it's success. Like it is success in the community. If you don't have the support of the local community doing what you're doing, you might as well hang your, hang your boots up. it makes the work that you do appropriate and it makes it, a lot easier because you've got people coming on board to support you and what you're doing. and we, wouldn't be able to do it without community support.

Jade:
I think one of the things that I'm in awe of is, know, this is not a, this is not a nine to five job. You know, I asked you, you just, just off, I asked you last night, you know, do you ever, do you ever think about doing something else? Like this is, this is tough work. Every day, you don't know what you're facing. You don't know what situation you referenced it earlier that, you know, you can have plans, but then something happens with a kid and everything stops and you have to address, you know, that particular, that particular issue. Like I'm...

I'm fascinated, how do you switch off? How do you make sure you've got the emotional strength to rock up every day and be there to support and inspire these kids and young people? What do you do?

Larn:
I think I'd have to start that by saying this isn't a job to me. This is not, this isn't my nine to five. This is my life. Like I've seen the community before down the track and I now see it now and the opportunities that are created for young people.

And just that sparkling in the kids eyes when they do something for the first time that they didn't believe they could do or didn't think that they could do and the change that that has in a young person. And I guess we say, what do I do to kind of keep myself?

Yes, centered and... Yeah.

Look, I love fishing. I love fishing. not like, I don't see it as needing to do that. and normally when we go fishing, we take the kids with us. So it's not really getting away, but, it's not like that. Like it's, this is just what we need to do because there's no one coming in to help, you know, like there's no, it's not a lineup of people that are ready to step into the role to to take over. This is just what needs to happen.

Jade:
I mean, that to me just sums you up. Like, I'm going to go kind of a bit cheesy here, but there's a quote that stuck out for me, and I'm definitely not quoting anything highbrow, so bear with me on this. But Equalizer Two, I don't know if you've seen that movie, but there's a quote where Denzel's character is asking the young fellow, well, the young fellow Miles is asking Denzel's character why he's painting this wall. The wall's been graffitied, the garden's been trashed. They're in community housing.

And he sort of, he looks at Denzel and goes, you know, why leave it to someone else to fix? That's not your job. And Denzel quite wisely looks him down in his way and goes, you're right. guess anybody could do it, but nobody does. It ends up everybody is complaining because nobody did what anybody could have done. Like that quote to me sums up you. It sums, but it sums up every person who just goes, you know what, like this needs to get done. Somebody needs to do it. And I'm the person to do that. And I just, my hat is off to you.

And thank God there are people like you in the world because otherwise we'd be in a sorry state. Like the society is not fixing this. It is individuals like you. So if there's somewhere out there, someone out there listening and hi mum, if anybody else is listening and they want to know how they can make a difference in their community, like what advice would you give them?

Larn:
I would be straight up and honest and say good intentions are not enough. Good intentions will not carry you through the shit times. And I don't know if we're allowed to swear at this, but there is a lot of shit times that there's some hard times. There's times where you think you're three steps ahead and then something happens and you're knocked back, you know, weeks and months of work undone. Um, and there's nothing you can do about it. Yeah. But roll your sleeves up, try harder.

Jade:
Mm. Yeah.

Larn:
Go hard, I work longer and get it back. And that's what it's all about.

These kids matter. Like these kids matter. They deserve opportunity. do, like just because we live in a really remote area doesn't mean that they don't get to experience aquaponics or you know, the scientific side of data collection. Like, you know, they, they deserve this opportunity to be exposed to these opportunities. And just because they might have, you know, bad behavior or we've got to work through that and we've got to give them the tools to be able to navigate their situations and their environment so they can then work through their own issues as well.

Jade:
Amazing. I mean, one of the things that you say a lot is, where's the, where's, just going back, but you kind of talk about we do it with them. We don't do it for them. Like what does, what does that mean? How does that show up?

Larn: I mean, like this is something that, I guess this is something from, from my experience growing up and things like people telling you what you should be doing and that'll make a difference in your life, but you're not doing it. And it's like, you know, maybe it's because I don't feel supported to do it, you know? so with everything we do, like the shearing is a perfect example. We don't just take the kids out and go, right. there's the sheep. There's the hand pieces go nuts. It's like, I'm going to be in the in the store next to you and we're going to do this together. I'm not doing it, like not just bringing you here for you to go, for me to tick a box to say, you know, I gave them the opportunity. They chose not to take it. It's about that creating that connection and, and going with them on the journey because that's, that's the key.

Jade:
So you're doing it by their side. Look, I want to kind of circle back to, because you just sort of, you you very pol- you very lightly dropped that we, you know, we've got a pub and we're renovating that. So unpack that for me. How does, how does an organization that's supporting young people end up with a pub that they're renovating? Like, how did that happen? \

Larn:
I think for organizations like Down the Track, this is the equivalent to winning Lotto 10 times. this doesn't happen. So we are so thankful and appreciative that we were given this opportunity to be able to do this. So a couple of years back, there was a big storm blew through Lake Jilligo. It blew the roof off a pub. And that pub has sat dormant for a couple of years. Just going to wreck and ruin really and an opportunity to come up that, we could have it gifted to us through a funder. And, not only that, that we could also get it renovated and fully kitted out and get it operational again. So it isn't going to be a pub per say. It's, we're not going to be serving alcohol and there's no gambling facilities, but we are going to still have a restaurant in there. We're going to put a cafe in there.

We're going to do some really boutique rooms and art gallery. we're to be as self-sustainable as possible. So growing our own fruit and veg, our own fish, and bits and pieces, but we're also going to do a transition for young people in the independent living. So there'll be, some spaces there for young people to get their foot in the door with like getting a rental. so they'll pay rent. They'll have rental inspections, all that kind of stuff.

And at the end of their time, they'll have a rental history so that they can take that next step and you know, have like, it's hard to get a rental. as I, what hope do young people have? So this is that kind of that first step for them, yeah, as an adult,

Jade:
So what does success look like for Down the Track?

Larn:
So I think it varies from young person to young person. mean, sometimes success can be a young person has shown up a couple of days in a row after, you know, not leaving their room for an extended amount of time. or it could be a young person has, you know, gone and done some training and that's the first thing they've that like they've dropped out of school. They've, you know, got no confidence. And then.

You know, we run a training program on being a barista or getting a white card or fencing and they attend that and they do the whole course. that's success for down the track. It's, it's those, those little wins that people would just brush over and go, well, you know, it's not very impressive, but for us, that's, that's the making of the next step. That's their foundations for us.

Jade:
And that gives you the impetus to continue aiming higher for these kids.

Larn:
Absolutely. When you see those little sparks fly, just gives you this injection of motivation to go, this is why I do what I do. This is, this, this kicks on to the next bit and it adds to a bigger picture too, because you just build on it and build on it and build on it. Next minute they're, they're doing cert twos, cert threes, or, you know, they're going, okay, I'm going to go and apply for that job. Or do you think you could help me pull together a resume? I'm thinking about going here and it.

That's when you implanted that little spark, you know?

Jade:
And I think one of the things that often gets taken for granted is the generational impact of this. Go fast forward 20 years, like what do you want down the track to have achieved for the community, for these kids? Like what does that future look like?

I think we need to keep evolving as an organization. We can't sit still. So we need to keep finding new ways of engaging young people. And I guess we're even seeing it now, there's this thing called the knock on effect, right? So you go, a young person will get a job either with down the track or externally. And then that creates in their own family group, a bit of, I wouldn't mind doing that as well.

Like it, you know, you go into work every day, you're getting into a good routine. It creates that knock on effect for other people in that household. And it, you know, that, that for me is massive because some of our kids are coming from generations of unemployment, not just, you know, a household where, know, a couple of people work, a couple of people don't. There's some households, there's, there's no one works. they, they don't understand, or they haven't been exposed to you know, this person getting up every morning and going to a job that hasn't been something that they've seen.

Jade:
You can't be what you can't see that whole. And you know, we talk about the impact of the community from where you first started and the stand back and watch. What is the community support wrap-around collaboration? What does that look like today?

Larn:
You don't know what you don't know.

Well, I guess like you could see it from a couple of different ways, right Jade? There's like, every time there's a funeral, we get a lot of like, we do the wakes and things like that. Or if there's a wedding, we cater for the wedding. Like we're so included in so many different ways within the community. We help set up for events, for community events. We pack up for community events. We include community members now in our training if we've got a couple of free spots.

We open them up and then the community can come in and do the training with us. That kind of stuff is gold to us at Down the Track. It's a connection piece also, and it creates opportunities for our young people with people that they wouldn't normally be connected with. So it builds their networks as well.

Jade:
And, you I suppose you want to keep a lot of this talent in the community to then nurture the next generations. Like we see it a lot where young people who've gone through the program and had challenges themselves are often the best place like yourself to then support the next generation. How important is it for you to keep some of that talent and those young people within down the track and part of your community?

Larn:
It's massive. It's at the moment, like I'm, I'm out here with you. we have a senior youth worker, Maddie, who is at home and she's now running down the track while I'm away. She, Maddie has come up through the program. so, you know, I've I've worked with Maddie for nearly 10 years. and now she's running it in my absence. So for me, that, that just, that makes my world just shine. Like the fact that that's happening and to see the younger kids looking up to her going, you know, what are we doing today or what's the plan or, you know, I'm getting Snapchats from the kids with Maddie directing them and things like that. it's, it's just, this is what it's all about really, isn't it? It's that next generation taken charge. It's another knock on effect really.

Jade:
Yeah. And the visibility of that for the community and for those kids, you know, that's special.

Larn:
It is, it really is. it's pride. It's, you know, it's, you see like when we get visitors come to down the track, you see the kids puff up and, they go, you this is where we do this and this is where we do that. Like they're so proud to, to showcase, you know, their space. Yeah. Which it is, it's their space.

Jade:
Absolutely. Without going into specifics, I'd love to hear a story of a young person whose journey through the program has impacted you most. How did they come to you and where are they now? Is there anyone that sort of jumps to mind or?

Larn:
That's really hard, right?

Jade:
It's not picking a favourite, but you know.

Larn:
Well, there is, there is, yeah, there, is, one young person that I thought was either going to make me or break me as a youth worker. And, yeah. So she, she's pretty special young person. and just kind of, I saw a lot of myself in her as well, just really misunderstood. Wild, crazy wild.

And a risk taker, which I was as well. but just so confident in risk taking, which, which is kind of scary as well. so this young person pretty much couch surfing, stealing cars, all that kind of stuff. Like in trouble with police all the time. and yeah, now she works for Down the Track. Amazing. she's amazing.

Uh, and you know, sometimes we still get the wobbles up, but this is the kind of the support of down the track is you can get the wobbles up and we're still there. You can't get kicked out of down the track. We're always going to be there to back you. Um, so yeah, and she's doing amazing and this kid was only just turned 18. I mean, whole life ahead of her. but yeah, not, not doing that crazy stuff so much anymore.

Jade:
I mean, she, she's a future Larn, right?

Larn:
Hopefully, hopefully she will stepping up into the seat.

Jade:
Yeah, I mean, there's no one better to know how to meet these young people where they are than people who've been there themselves, right? You know, you want to go back and repay the favour.

Larn:
Yeah, I guess, yeah, like I did some pretty, some things that I'm not proud of, growing up. And I guess this is kind of like, I kind of see it now. Like it makes sense for me now that why I do what I do, I guess. Yeah. it's that, okay, it's my turn to give back for, you know, all the shit that I caused as well.

Jade:
Well, talking about giving back, like how can people support you? So obviously, you know, people might be listening to this and going, that sounds like something I want to learn more about. How do people find out about you? Tell me all the ways, website address, social handles, you know, how can we follow your journey? Yeah.

Larn:
Yeah, so we have, we've got a website and it's DownTheTrack.org.au. We've also got a Facebook page, which is DownTheTrack, and we've got an Instagram page that is completely run by our young people. That can get a little wild because sometimes when I get to it in time to, you know, have a look over it to make sure it's appropriate.

Jade:
Ha ha ha.

So real and authentic.

Larn:
Yes, it's as real as it gets, And it's great. Like I love the fact that they take responsibility for it and they post their little things that they want to talk about, not just what, you know, the organization wants to showcase, I guess. So that's really cool. But yeah, so support for us is we're very remote, so we don't have a lot of the corporate support. We don't fit a lot of government funding because of the size of us.

It's not appealing to government who want to hit big numbers. We don't have big numbers, but it doesn't mean that our work's not important. So we don't get a lot of government funding. think we've got 17 % government funding at the moment, which is not a lot. The rest is all philanthropic. So we are heavily reliant on donations and funding in that way. from anything like sharing one of our posts or liking a Facebook page,

If that's, you know, all the way that you can contribute, that would be amazing. To, you know, sponsoring a cup of coffee a day or a week. Yeah. Chirists for catering. We've done a couple of weddings and it was bloody good. Yeah.

Jade:
Hiring you for catering. Have your wedding in Lake Cargelligo.

Larn:
And I think, you know, what about the accommodation? When can people come and stay and check out the work?

So we will be doing updates. We're going to be sending out a newsletter just for the renovations and the pub updates. So we're hoping to have that kind of finished in around that two year mark, but you know, how long's the piece of string? We've still got a lot of work to do and we still really don't know what we need in that space either. We're working on a business plan at the moment to kind of suss out, you know, where our weaknesses are, what stuff we're going to need.

What's it going to cost to run? So we're still working out all those kinds of details, but yeah.

Jade:
Well, we're excited to see where this leads. I just want to say a massive thank you, my friend, for being here today. Having you as the first guest is just an absolute delight. As I said, I'm in awe of the work you do. It's a privilege to know you. And I think we'll leave it there. We are.

Thanks so much, Jade.