redcliffe area youth space
For more than 20 years, RAYS has grown with its community, from establishing
itself as a local youth space to having a clear identity as a trusted, relational and
healing centred organisation. Over time, in response to community need, our
focus has sharpened to walk alongside the most vulnerable and disengaged
young people in the community. What has remained constant is our commitment
to youth culture and creating spaces where young people feel seen, safe and
valued.
Today, RAYS is more than a space. It is a hub for gathering, belonging and
connection. We deliver a range of programs that respond to the complex realities
young people face, including case management, psychosocial and mental health
supports, education, training and employment pathways, social enterprises and
social inclusion groups. Our programs have also expanded to include Safe
Space, a peer led initiative providing support to community members in distress.
Our evolution reflects the same spirit that shaped our beginnings: co-designed
with young people, grounded in relationships and driven by a belief in their
strengths and potential.
OUR VISION
A connected and compassionate community where all young people and families are seen for their strengths, supported to heal and grow, and empowered to shape their own future.
OUR MISSION
We walk alongside vulnerable young people and their families to create safe, inclusive, healing centred spaces where they can Gather, Belong and Connect. We recognise the deep impact of trauma, oppression and adversity and place connection, culture and community at the heart of our work. Through supportive programs, we build trust, choice and collaboration, while focusing on each young person’s strengths, resilience and potential to empower them to Thrive.
OUR COMMITMENT
We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of every child and young person. Our organisation is a place where human rights are respected and where spaces are created to be equitable, inclusive and culturally safe, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander you people, those who are neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, culturally diverse, or living with disability and other forms of marginalisation. We listen deeply to lived experience e and youth voice, ensuring their wisdom shapes how we walk alongside families and communities. Our governance and quality frameworks hold us accountable, while our ‘no wrong door’ approach means support is always responsive and within reach. Grounded in holistic, relational, trauma, poverty informed and healing centred practice, we stand with vulnerable and disengaged young people and their families, so they feel seen, safe and supported to Thrive.
FIRST NATIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Redcliffe Area Youth Space acknowledged that it is on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi peoples who have lived on and protected these lands since the beginning of time.
The land that the Youth Space sits on has always been a place of gathering a place to connect through story, kinship and culture, and a place where people deeply belong to each other and to Country.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present and recognise that Gathering, Belonging and Connection are not new ideas, but long held truths embedded in this land and community.
As an organisation, we commit to working in a way that reflects these principles; creating space to gather meaningfully, connect with care and foster true belonging for all, so that everyone has a genuine opportunity to Thrive.
LIVED EXPERIENCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
At the heart of our work is the belief that healing begins when people are truly seen, heard and valued.
We recognise the expertise and courage and honour the voices and resilience of those with lived and living experience of mental ill-health, trauma, suicide, alcohol and other drug use, domestic and family violence, poverty, neglect and abuse, intergenerational trauma and those who care for them. Every journey is unique. Every story matters.
In our community, lived experience is not only about navigating systems but also about surviving their absence. This perspective deepens our understanding of what true accessibility, belonging and care must look like. Your stories are not side notes; they shape how we learn, grow and lead.
To those who walk beside others, speak up or simply make it through the day, thank you. You make us more human and more hopeful.
