Enabling positive risk

Stellar Experiences
Altruistic. Loving. Compassionate.

Bronte Hendricks is helping young adults with mild to moderate disabilities and mental health conditions gain access to the same opportunities as other young people their age.

Bronte and her business partner, Luke Muttdon, are achieving this through Stellar Experiences, an enterprise they launched last year to take people aged 16 to 35 on day trips, evenings out and weekends away.

Their guests have all sorts of interests that they are unable to explore without support, says Bronte.

Their experiences include anything from football games, music festivals, sky diving, nights out, weekends away and travel.

"They are at a life stage now where they want to become independent," says Bronte, who has a degree in Inclusive Education and Disability Studies.

Bronte is a firm believer in enabling positive risk and believes people should have access to everything they want in life.

Although many of the guests are seen as higher functioning, they face a range of obstacles, including anxiety about being in crowded and noisy places, challenges with developing and maintaining friendships and difficulties with social skills.

"Unfortunately this can lead to social isolation and young people being somewhat confined to their family networks in terms of their social interactions," Bronte says.

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. Stellar Experiences will use its grant to subsidise costs for their experiences to make them accessible for all young people, such as those who don't qualify for the NDIS.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here