Evaluation of the Mobile Youth Van Claymore Project in NSW: Project Report

The Mobile Youth Van (M.Y.van) project is an initiative of Save the Children Fund (STCF) that provides social, educational and recreational opportunities for young people of Claymore during their leisure time. Claymore is a suburb in south-western Sydney that has been identified as one of the most disadvantaged suburbs in NSW; the Socio Economic Index for Areas rating of relative socio-economic disadvantage for Claymore is 495 (ABS, 2015). It was also described as home to 3,300 of the poorest people in the country in Growing up Poor (Four Corners, 2012) and was included among a list of ‘Red Alert suburbs’ in a research report that highlighted the employment vulnerability index for Australia’s major urban regions (Baum & Mitchell, 2009). The M.Y.van project was launched in July 2013 in response to research reports and national media that highlighted the lack of suitable and appropriate health and welfare services, education and training, recreational opportunities in the area and the high risks of social exclusion the young people were facing. Since its launch the M.Y.van project has made an important contribution to children and young people by providing opportunities for them to engage in empowering educational, social and recreational activities.