The Sandbar Project

April 6, 2020

The SANDBAR Project was developed by young people for young people and came about via our Drug & Alcohol Youth Support Services (DAYSS) Youth Advisory Group (YAG) participants. The YAG wanted to see something that was mobile, engaging and available at youth events and in public spaces. The group came up with the idea of a mobile bar set-up that was able to produce and serve healthy, hydrating and non-alcoholic drinks to young people to promote safe partying. The bar is trendy and appealing to young people so they want to engage.

To support this idea the DAYSS team approached the Northern Sydney Primary Health Network (PHN) and pitched them the ideas of the SANDBAR Project. The PHN loved that it was an idea driven by the young people and would appeal to the community, so they agreed to fund the purchase of a mobile bar set-up.

Why is it called The SANDBAR Project? The YAG wanted a name that would reflect their surroundings on the Northern Beaches and something that represented a ‘safe space’. A sandbar is a long, narrow sandbank that links two large areas of land together. This can make it easier for people to cross from land to land safely. With this in mind the young people decided to call the project The SANDBAR Project as they felt they were creating a space where young people could gain some support to get from a place of trouble or challenge to a safer place.

During Youth Week (1 – 9 April) we’d hoped to be out and about in the community but that’s had to change due to the coronavirus situation. We’ll update you again soon on our whereabouts!