TOWN OF MINTO — The Town of Minto has received gold status as a Youth Friendly Community from Play Works, a group of provincially recognized youth organizations that work together to encourage communities to open doors and reinvest in youth play.

Minto submitted documentation for nine of the 10 criteria. Of those, the documentation for all nine were deemed to meet the criteria and Minto was designated as a Gold Youth Friendly Community. The Town of Minto was recognized for outstanding commitment to providing youth with opportunities to be active contributors to their community through key criteria, including:

— Youth have options for play;

— Youth are formally connected community-wide;

— Youth can find information about play activities in the community;

— The community recognizes and celebrates youth;

— The community formally commits funding for youth play;

— The community supports positive youth development;

— Youth feel valued by their community;

— Schools and school boards support the youth friendly approach;

— Play is socially inclusive.

“We are very excited about this formal recognition as it reflects how the community values our youth,” said Taylor Keunen, the Town of Minto’s economic development assistant and Minto Youth Action Council adult ally. “We had an overwhelming amount of support from youth, community groups and elected officials who contributed as co-applicants and provided letters of support. We are very proud of this accomplishment, yet we are aware that there is always room for growth and improvement."

If anyone would like to learn more about what becoming a Youth Friendly Community entails, visit playworkspartnership.ca.

On Thursday, April 12, the town will be officially presented with the award at the Youth Friendly Community recognition reception, ceremony and gala banquet in The Blue Mountains.