It's been wonderful having the ABC Takeover team in Ballarat gathering and sharing young people's stories.
On Tuesday night, the team and their young storytellers gathered for a red carpet event to showcase some of those stories and the perspectives of young people in the Ballarat region.
You can watch their stories here, and please do — they're amazing true tales about what life is like for an incredibly diverse and inspiring array of young people from the Ballarat region.
From chess to hot-air ballooning, from volunteering to snakes, they cover a wide range of topics with one connecting thread — these are the stories of our next generation, which don't often get heard.
Some of those stories have been aired on ABC Ballarat's Breakfast program with Steve Martin and ABC Statewide Drive with Prue Bentley.
You can read more about the Takeover Ballarat project here.
There's another event on today (Wednesday) at the Civic Hall where the young contributors will share their ideas about what could make Ballarat and the wider region a better place.
And there's more to come — keep an eye on the ABC website for more articles inspired by the achievements and perspectives of these young people.
Matt Neal
Editor, ABC Ballarat & South West Victoria
