Groom MP Garth Hamilton promises $459k for The Lighthouse Toowoomba literacy programs

The simple act of reading to a child every night can put them a full year ahead of their peers when they start school, and it is programs like this that can address the root of Queensland’s youth crime problem.

Lighthouse founders Emma Mactaggart and Emily MacManus with Groom MP Garth Hamilton.

Groom MP Garth Hamilton has committed to provide the Lighthouse Toowoomba with $459,000 in funding if the Coalition wins government at the federal election.

That money, provided through the Safer Communities Program, would fund the organisation’s literacy programs for five years and bring much needed certainty to its operations.

Mr Hamilton said services like the Lighthouse tackled youth crime by supporting at-risk families.

“These are real change leaders in our community and I think there’s a huge and important step that we’re taking,” he said.

“This funding comes out of I think my concern for the youth crime crisis that we went through, we looked at lots of ways that the federal government can stand shoulder to shoulder with the state government to help get ourselves out of the crisis that we went through.

“I strongly support the state government’s Adult Crime, Adult Time laws, they provide a strong deterrent, but it’s crucial that they have the opportunity to get vulnerable kids on a better pathway.

“When you talk to the people at the Lighthouse, it’s amazing just how much change they can bring to kids’ lives.”

The Lighthouse opened three years ago and runs reading and writing programs for children and their families.

It is also closely tied in with Emerge and Adapt Mentorship, two grassroots Toowoomba organisations that work to divert young people away from crime while also providing housing and training.

Lighthouse founder Emma Mactaggart said the earlier at-risk families received support, the easier it was to turn them around.

“We know that learning is exponential,” she said.

“If children are given an opportunity, if they can start school with a vast number of words, for example, they can describe what their emotions are like.

“They can articulate what it is that they need.

“But if they’re only coming in at a functional level because then they go south straight away.”

A core part of the Lighthouse’s mission is to provide every family with books so they can read to their children.

Ms Mactaggart said that the simple task of reading to a young child from the ages of zero to five will put their literacy a full year ahead by the time they start school.