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Dubbo’s ‘Hidden Treasure’

16-Oct-2011

Western College’s Kate Davis named on state honour roll

The state of NSW has acknowledged what Western College has known for more than a decade – that trainer and mentor Kate Davis is a hidden treasure.

Kate has been included in the NSW Hidden Treasures Honour Roll for 2011, which celebrates regional communities’ women volunteers, for her dedication to disadvantaged youth through her ground-breaking program, Links to Learning. With a life-long commitment to helping disadvantaged youth, Kate developed the program in 1999, with the aim of ensuring that early school leavers have every opportunity to continue their education.

The program, which includes skill development in literacy, numeracy and self-esteem as well as instruction in basic workplace skills, has become the benchmark across the state and has been nominated in the National Focus category for the Australian National Training Awards.

But demand well outweighs resources, so Kate volunteers more than 20 hours of her own time every week as a mentor, and helping her charges to “cope with life and society’s expectations”.

Kate believes the strength of the program lies in its individualised approach.  “I respect these kids, where often they’ve slipped through the cracks and are considered by ‘the system’ to have no hope.  I help give them that hope, and I’m able to do that because Western College is big enough to have resources and established networks, but still small enough to allow for flexibility and for people to be treated as individuals.”

A reluctant ‘hero’, Kate says she doesn’t seek or expect accolades.  “I just love helping young people to see and reach for their potential.  I don’t want a fuss to be made over me.”

College CEO, Ron Maxwell, is justifiably proud of his team member.

“The Links to Learning program fits perfectly with our philosophy here at Western College of inclusion and respect for the individual, and Kate’s ability to engage with these young people, who are often considered to have little hope, is unique and very valuable.
“The work Kate does with disadvantaged youth is remarkable, but it’s her dedication to these kids and the volunteer hours she puts in that make her truly an asset to the community.
 “We’ve known for years that Kate is a hidden treasure, but it’s wonderful to see it made official!”

In acknowledging Kate’s inclusion on the prestigious honour roll, Member for Dubbo Troy Grant said it was vital to recognise the role of volunteers in supporting communities.

"Kate is one of seven women from the Dubbo electorate who have been included on this year's honour roll and I commend her for her continued passion and dedication to mentoring young people in Dubbo through the Links to Learning program, which is considered the Links benchmark for the rest of NSW.
"There are more than 1.7 million volunteers like Kate in NSW and without their tireless support many groups including charities, emergency services, the arts, environment, social  justice, education and sporting organisations would struggle to survive. It is important Kate's work is appropriately recognised.”