A FUN mascot hunt held at Murray Bridge has inspired young people to spend time outdoors and explore their community as part of South Australian Youth Week 2025.
Where’s Ronnie? The Reconnect Mascot Hunt was held in April across four days and encouraged young people aged 12 to 18 to find three plush mascots hidden at Murray Bridge businesses or public spaces each day.
Clues were posted to a Facebook event with daily prizes on offer for the young people who returned one of the mascots to ac.care Murraylands Centre at 29 Bridge Street.
ac.care Reconnect youth support worker Alexandra Kermond said the activity aligned with both the Reconnect program and Youth Week objectives of encouraging youth to explore and connect with their community.
“It has been proven that being outdoors has a positive impact on young people’s well-being, and can reduce levels of stress, depression and anxiety,” Alexandra said.
“It was clear that the young people were excited to be involved, and we did hear positive feedback around hosting activities for the ‘bigger kids’.
“Parents also commented how the daily mascot hunt had engaged their children and got them excited and out of the house, which had proven challenging at times for them.”
Alexandra said most of the mascots were returned within the first hour of clues being posted online with young people and the broader community embracing the new initiative.
“We are grateful to the businesses and organisations that got involved and hosted Ronnie for the hunt and donated prizes for our daily winners,” Alexandra said.
“Their energy made this possible and it was amazing to see just how well these young people knew their community from the photo clues we provided.”
While fun was the focus, Alexandra hoped the activity helped increase awareness among young people and their families about ac.care and the services available to support people across the Murraylands.
“Reconnect aims to prevent homelessness and reduce its impact, particularly on families and young people, through innovative prevention and early intervention initiatives.
“A big focus of our work is providing an individualised approach to young people to support family reconciliation where possible and to improve their level of engagement with work, education, training and the community.
“We travel across the Murraylands to deliver our services, which connects us with young people and families in Murray Bridge, the Mid Murray, Karoonda, East Murray, Southern Mallee and the Coorong districts.
The Reconnect Mascot Hunt was of several SA Youth Week activities ac.care was involved at Murray Bridge, with the Reconnect team also attending the Blue Light SA ten pin bowling event and the Ignite Your Future youth-specific employment and career event.
“We raffled off a driving lesson package donated by Sammy’s Driving School at our Ignite Your Future stall and the young person who won it had said it would be life-changing for them,” Alexandra said.
The Reconnect team also hosts a regular Hang Out Space at the ac.care Murraylands Centre for young people aged 12-18, providing a supervised space to play games, get creative, connect with peers or simply relax.
“We have created a safe, social space for young people to come and connect with us and other young people through fun and creativity,” Alexandra said.
“For some young people this has been a big step to get involved, but by the end of the session they have made new friends and don’t want to leave, so that has been a great outcome.”
Learn more about ac.care’s Youth Services and the Reconnect program.
Thank you to the local businesses that support the Reconnect Mascot Hunt, including Avoca Dell Caravan Park, Cameo Cinema, Sammy’s Driving School, Drakes Murray Bridge, Bridge Trophies/Grazing For Days, Sportspower Murray Bridge, Pop Nutrition, Bridge Bowl, Raptcha’u, Cottage Box Chocolates, McCue’s Bakery and Snap Fitness.
