MANA Youth Project

03/09/2026

Final Weeks of MANA Akademy ✨️

02/09/2026

Hello MANA Youth Project Community.
Mentor Rick here.

In a few days I will be doing a Live broadcast on the Page about the future of MANA Youth Project including our core programs and MANA Akademy Afterschool Clubs.

I did not want to make any big announcements in a text post alone, but after Term 3 Finishes up, MANA Youth Project and Clubs will be ceasing operation after 10 years of providing outreach, program based mentoring and also afterschool club activities the last 3 years.

It will be a bit of a grieving period for myself, but I know when the jig is up, and when to walk away when something isn't working.

To be truthful, the last 10 years has been up uphill climb. There has been massive peaks of accomplishments, but unfortunately outnumbered by periods of plateau and utter flatline.
In pursuit of a purpose, I have sacrificed alot over the years, as most do in pursuit of their own.

Mental, emotional, physical and of course financial pressures. A total lack of security. Becoming a father. And some horrendous personal life events have completely wiped me out, no more than this last year.

I'm tired now.

And my life is taking new trajectories in an effort to at least recoup some of what has been lost.

Therefore, I no longer feel like I'm in a position to actively be paid to mentor young people at this time. Not within my own business at least. I will still be applying my knowledge, experience and skills towards Youth Work in other areas.

I don't believe this is the complete end of MANA Youth Project. I have put too much work into this over the years to let it die. Let's just say... I'm putting the Sword in the Stone for now, until a time I believe it will be needed in the world.

For families and young people who have engaged with our services, received mentoring whether through outreach or in our Pathfinder Program, our clubs, you can still contact me. This has always been an important, foundational pillar for MANA. consistency and access.

Thankyou so much for allowing me to walk beside you.

Once Mentor,
Rick Boland

02/09/2026

Hello MANA Youth Project Community.
Mentor Rick here.

In a few days I will be doing a Live broadcast on the Page about the future of MANA Youth Project including our core programs and MANA Akademy Afterschool Clubs.

I did not want to make any big announcements in a text post alone, but after Term 3 Finishes up, MANA Youth Project and Clubs will be ceasing operation after 10 years of providing outreach, program based mentoring and also afterschool club activities the last 3 years.

It will be a bit of a grieving period for myself, but I know when the jig is up, and when to walk away when something isn't working.

To be truthful, the last 10 years has been up uphill climb. There has been massive peaks of accomplishments, but unfortunately outnumbered by periods of plateau and utter flatline.
In pursuit of a purpose, I have sacrificed alot over the years, as most do in pursuit of their own.

Mental, emotional, physical and of course financial pressures. A total lack of security. Becoming a father. And some horrendous personal life events have completely wiped me out, no more than this last year.

I'm tired now.

And my life is taking new trajectories in an effort to at least recoup some of what has been lost.

Therefore, I no longer feel like I'm in a position to actively be paid to mentor young people at this time. Not within my own business at least. I will still be applying my knowledge, experience and skills towards Youth Work in other areas.

I don't believe this is the complete end of MANA Youth Project. I have put too much work into this over the years to let it die. Let's just say... I'm putting the Sword in the Stone for now, until a time I believe it will be needed in the world.

For families and young people who have engaged with our services, received mentoring whether through outreach or in our Pathfinder Program, our clubs, you can still contact me. This has always been an important, foundational pillar for MANA. consistency and access. And for those active in our Discord. The server will still operate and remain as a platform you can talk games, share your art and access mentors.

Thankyou so much for allowing me to walk beside your young people when I was needed, for a short time, or for some families, over the course of years. It has been the honour of a lifetime to be a chapter in your life; Youth worker, mentor, sage, wizard or otherwise.

Join me in a few days for a Facebook Live event where i will say a proper goodbye, and reflect on all of our achievements and good news stories from the past decade.

Thankyou
Once Mentor, Rick Boland 🧙🏾‍♂️

27/08/2026

Good morning everyone.
Just letting you know that clubs are unfortunately canceled today due to both Rick and myself feeling a bit under the weather.
We look forward to seeing you next week 😀
- Mentor Emma

20/08/2026

Thursday Afternoon Akademy Clubs at Mornington Community House 3.45pm - 5.45pm

$13 per session for 2 Hours of Art, Creative Writing and Tabletop Roleplaying fun.

Ages 10 - 21 years.

18/08/2026

When you spend your childhood making real choices, discovering what you love, and having your thoughts and opinions taken seriously, you build a pretty strong sense of who you are along the way.

That's something I've really noticed with my unschooled teens. Of course they're still growing and changing, but they know themselves. They haven't suddenly reached adolescence and needed to discover who they are. They never lost that connection with themselves in the first place.

A lot of "finding yourself" comes from spending childhood following someone else's direction. If you've spent years being told what to learn, where to be, what success looks like and what you should be working towards, at some point you have to ask: What do I actually want? Who am I?

If you've had ownership over your life all along, you've spent childhood becoming yourself already.

09/08/2026

PLEASE READ AND SHARE

I have created a new GoFundMe for MANA Youth Project Akademy Clubs.
Our Clubs have been going through a pretty big plateau the last few terms unfortunately, and our recent re-location to Mornington has yet to yield any results.

With an all-time low membership, we are facing large space hire fees that we may not be able to maintain even this term.

This will mean complete closure and an end to 3+ years of work to keep our clubs afloat.

Please share this with your network, and if you can, donate to keep our clubs going, even for this Term at least.

Thankyou.

Greetings Community Mentor Rick here, I want to introduc… Rick Boland needs your support for Support MANA Akademy Afterschool Clubs on the Peninsula

07/08/2026

One of our MANA Akademy members taking part in our weekly TTRPG Battle Map Prompt: Forest Camp Ambush!

It resulted in a surprise ambush
Battle with monsters
Poison
Power ups and then back to sleep like nothing happened....oh after the Barbarian was carried off by a Griffon 🗡

Join us next week for a new Prompt.

06/08/2026

How would you handle our "Prompt of the Day" in our TTRPG Club? 🪢🎲 peace or conflict?

Come on down and show us how you would creatively get your party out of this mess.

Mornington Community House