Bunbury celebrities to go behind bars for good cause

Local sports stars, celebrities and even Bunbury Mayor Gary Brennan could be placed ‘under arrest’ on July 19.

The Bunbury Police and Community Youth Centre served prominent members of the community an arrest warrant this week, inviting them to be locked up for a good cause in the annual ‘Time For Kids’ fundraising appeal.

Centre support officer Sue Graham said the event was a significant fundraiser for the centre, which helped run youth intervention, education programs and recreational activities including a TAFE certificate in leadership.

“We did it last year for the first time and made about $10,000, ” Ms Graham said.

“We rely quite heavily on support from the community and I guess there wouldn’t be many alternatives for the kids we help.”

Ms Graham said the centre was a place where disengaged young people could come and stay out of harm’s way or spend time there if they had nowhere else to go.

“We help kids who are truanting or disengaged and help them get back into the system at a level they can cope, ” she said.

“Sometimes we get kids into TAFE or bridging courses and engage them in a meaningful way so they don’t continue to float around and get into trouble.”

Ms Graham said the idea behind the fundraiser was to get community members to do ‘jail time’ to support programs that help kept young people out of the juvenile justice system