Stawell’s Hayley Little completed the Western Bulldogs Leadership Project last year, which gives young people opportunities to build confidence and develop skills that will help them become leaders in their communities.

This year, the AFL club selected Hayley to take her learning further and create a social enterprise.

The result is Positivitoys, soft fabric cubes containing positive messages that Hayley sells to raise money to fund job skills courses for young people in her community.

Hayley, 15, launched her business in April, and has already made and sold enough toys to fund one course.

She hopes to raise enough money to finance multiple courses, such as food handling, hospitality and responsible serving of alcohol courses.

She said such courses could be expensive, and she wanted to help ensure they were accessible to those who needed them.

“By funding a course that gets a young person a job, I have made a lifelong difference in someone’s life,” she said. “I chose hospitality-type courses as we live in a tourism area and there are times when hospitality skills are in high demand. So it is a win for the young person and the employer.

“I’ve teamed up with youth workers, who will help identify the children who would most benefit from these courses.”

The Western Bulldogs helped Hayley with seed funding for her project.

Customers can choose the design and colour combinations for their toys, and Hayley attaches a positive message to each one. She is able to make about 10 toys in a few days.

“Being a cube design, it doesn’t take very long,” she said.

Positivitoys has become a family affair, with Hayley’s mum helping out.

“Half of the material we bought at Spotlight, and the other half was donated by Cleverstitch in Dimboola,” Hayley said. “My mum is one of their workers and she has industrial machines at home, so she donated her time and skills to help me.

“I’m aiming to make 300 toys, but I really just want to see how many I can do.

“I gave one to a friend for her birthday, and then another friend found out. We’ve been getting lots of orders from friends and family.”

Hayley hopes the first courses funded by her venture will run in July.

She said people could buy her products on the Positivitoy Facebook page, or by emailing positivitoys@gmail.com. The toys are $6 each.