St.George Foundation has joined a local fight to save an innovative educational program assisting youth in Sydney’s West.

Once a week local young people from Mt Druitt in Sydney's West get the opportunity to spend a day out of school at a local Learning Ground Behavioural Change Management Centre. Here they attend a program built around fostering relationships with children and giving them a sense of self-worth.

The centre has only one paid employee, and one volunteer, but due to lack of funding has been fighting to keep its doors open.

St.George Foundation has granted $25,000 in funding towards this great local initiative, which will see the program continue for some of the centre’s youngest members.

Leona Fell, Head of St.George Foundation says the Mt Druitt Learning Ground Younger Persons Project works with the most seriously disadvantaged families in low socio-economic environments.

 “The Foundation has funded this program because it has a proven ability to really help local families, with school principals in the area reporting how children who attend Learning Ground return to school as much better students,” says Leona.

“In the past five years 188 young people who were suspended from school have attended Learning Ground and returned to the classroom.”

Children who previously refused to go to school also changed their minds after attending the centre.

Learning Ground co-founder, Margaret Bell, has been tirelessly campaigning to save the centre, and says the $25,000 grant from St.George Foundation will enrol 25 new families.

“We’re grateful for the grant because it will assist some of our younger members aged 8 - 13 years from any one of the 11 suburbs in Mt Druitt who are most ‘at risk' of disengaging from school,” Margaret said.

“60% of the take up is expected to be from children of aboriginal background from at least seven schools in the area.”