CEO Message

CEO Message
It has really been a fantastic couple of months and I am thrilled to share what has been happening. Firstly WA PCYC had it’s Annual General Meeting
(AGM) at the end of August which was accompanied by our Annual Manager’s Conference. The AGM was a great time to reflect on the last year and
was a great opportunity to spend time with our key stakeholders and staff. At the AGM we also distributed our 2014-2015 Annual Report, you can
find a digital copy of our Annual Report here.
The Manager’s Conference is always a key event in our calendar and this one was truly our best yet. This is an event which allows all our Centre and
Camp Managers across the state to come together with the Youth Crime Intervention Officers (YCIO) and WA PCYC Head Office Staff with the
workshop theme of “Understanding our responsibilities, expectations and position”. This year, thanks to our key partner, the WA Police, WA PCYC
held it at the Joondalup Police Academy. The venue was very fitting, and we had some fantastic keynote speakers and other important guests. Special
thanks to: Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan APM, Superintendent Alan Morton, Assistant Commissioner Duane Bell, Superintendent Brad Royce,
Superintendent Dominic Wood, Neville Collard, SDERA - Lisa Lanciano and Mike Jackson-Pierce, Duke of Edinburgh Awards - Katie Brown, WA Police
Kimberley District Officer Representatives - Monica Lee and Viv Hunter, and Inclusion WA - Denver D’Cruz.
As part of our AGM we also held WA PCYC’s Annual Awards, we are thrilled at the calibre of nominations we had through this year which made our
job very difficult in picking the winners. I would like to congratulate all recipients and nominees for their outstanding commitment to WA PCYC and
the wider community. The Awards recognise our great staff, volunteers and partners. The winners are detailed on the following pages.
Another event in August was the Constable Care Child Safety Awards. I was privileged and very proud to be sitting with members of our PCYC family
and invited WA Police Officers at the Awards. We had two finalists in the Community Safety Award section: Drop In Girls Space (DIGS) - Carnarvon
PCYC and Full Throttle - Gosnells PCYC. Congratulations to them both and all the people behind them. Whilst we did not win, it was great to have WA
PCYC recognised at such an event as finalists, especially knowing all the great work behind the scenes in challenging circumstances. At the end of the
day we do not work to get awards but rather helping the WA community is reward enough.
As mentioned in the previous newsletter we are getting ready for our 75th Birthday celebrations next year. I am excited to be hosting the PCYC and
Blue Light International Conference in 2016 which is fitting given it is our 75th birthday. Stay tuned to find out all the great celebration events we will
be hosting next year.
Before I sign off I would like to recognise Alissa Cass and Sally Courboules, two of our fantastic Head Office staff who are moving on from WA PCYC.
Alissa has been a jack-of-all trades and one of her key achievements is in delivering the Annual Report almost single-handedly the last two years.
Thank you both for your years of service to our great cause, especially Sally who has been with us for 5 years. All the best in your future endeavours.
John (Jock) Gillespie
AUGUST 2015
And the Winners Are ...
Each year PCYC recognises outstanding persons, centres, programs and
partners who have made a significant contributed to our services
throughout the year, via a range of PCYC Awards. These Awards were
presented just prior to our AGM, held on 20 August.
One of our most esteemed categories is that of “Volunteer of the Year”.
It is important for our organisation to recognise the value of people
volunteering their time and sharing their skills and knowledge to enhance
our young people and local communities. The 2014/15 winners were:
Junior Volunteer of the Year (Regional)
Max Coppin - Roebourne PCYC
Max (aka Maxi) is a natural born leader, is respected by the local
community and his peers and is wise beyond his 13 years. He attends
almost every session at Roebourne PCYC, helping in the kitchen, setting
and packing up, picking up rubbish, looking out for the younger children
and he even referees the dodgeball games. Centre Manager, Kirsty Levi
says Max “embodies all the traits we want to encourage in our young
people who attend.” Congratulations Max!
Senior Volunteer of the
(Metropolitan)
Lesley Leonard - Fremantle PCYC
Senior Volunteer of the Year (Regional) Kim Purdon & Jody Rooney - Geraldton PCYC
Kim and Jody have been an integral part of the PCYC Circus group since
its inception in 2008. Kim and Jody’s daughters began as participants in
the Circus class and almost immediately both mums began volunteering
as assistant trainers. Together they undertook the role of volunteer
senior coach for the advanced aerials class from 2010 to 2014. They were
also was an integral part of starting up the Women’s Class in 2012, as
well as expanding the timetable to include a General adult’s class in
2013.
Kim and Jody are valuable and committed PCYC volunteers, providing
Circus skills workshops throughout the Midwest Region top help raise
valuable funds for Geraldton PCYC.
Both ladies often change their own personal work rosters to make time
to volunteer as a Circus trainers for visiting camp school bookings, school
reward days and children’s birthday parties at the Geraldton PCYC.
Congratulations Kim and Jody!
Year Junior Volunteer of the Year (Metropolitan)
Topaz Knodel - Subiaco PCYC
Lesley is on the Fremantle Basketball Committee
and is involved in creating and managing PCYC’s
teams as part of the Cockburn Basketball
Association (CBA) Competition. She has invested
countless hours into sourcing new players for
PCYC and ensuring that each team has a coach
and team manager, an arduous task with 21 teams this season.
Independently she has taken the initiative to work one-on-one with some
of our identified at-risk young people. Lesley has worked closely with
families from various nationalities whose parents speak little or no
English to ensure that they are able to understand and complete relevant
paperwork and gain access to Kidsport and other funding, where
available. Congratulations Lesley!
Topaz is a full time high school student who has been an assistant
volunteer coach with Subiaco PCYC gymnastics for a year and a half.
At 15, Topaz already displays a maturity well beyond her years. She has
built a strong rapport with the class and does an incredible job of
explaining the drills in a way the participants are able to understand.
She also contributes to the lesson plans when invited to do so, and all
her contributions are always well received by the students.
Subiaco PCYC Centre Support Officer, Jess Lynch, says Topaz is “kind,
considerate, very respectful and a great role model for the younger
girls.”
Congratulations Topaz!
AUGUST 2015
And the Winners Are ...
PCYC Recognised Service Awards
Jill Bourke (Geraldton PCYC)
Jill is a paid employee, however over the
seven years she has worked at Geraldton
PCYC (both for WA Police and The
Federation) she has given countless unpaid
volunteer hours. In the last few years she
been the driving force behind a PCYC
catering service, which involves herself and
other volunteers giving up their time to cook
and serve food at a variety of events, all to
raise money for the Geraldton centre. In
2014/2015 financial year she managed in excess of 70 catering jobs,
many of which were done outside her paid role as Centre Manager.
She is an avid believer in community fundraising and has dedicated many
volunteer hours getting innovative fundraising initiatives up and running,
like Cabaret Shows & Fashion Events. She then uses funds raised to help
put on fun and engaging events and activities for local youth like Shred
Fest (music event), Skate Competitions and School Holiday Programs.
Congratulations Jill!
Steve Chynoweth (Gosnells PCYC)
Steve became involved with Gosnells PCYC some 14 years ago when his
young daughters joined gymnastics. Since then he has been a regular
face at the club, providing countless hours to assist with everything from
cleaning and centre maintenance, to mentoring young people.
In the last year Steve has been instrumental in getting the Full Throttle
program off the ground, as volunteer Program Coordinator. As a fully
qualified mechanic, Steve immediately put his hand up to assist,
volunteering every Thursday night to teach at-risk young people how to
rebuild and refurbish damaged bikes. His contribution to date has
resulted in significant positive outcomes for the young people he has
assisted. Steve is a very much loved member the Gosnells PCYC
community and the centre would simply not function without him!
Jessica Fanetti (Kalgoorlie PCYC)
Jess started out as a volunteer at the Kalgoorlie PCYC six years ago, at
the ripe old age of 12! During this time she has volunteered in a range of
areas, from admin to gymnastics coaching. In 2014 she was employed as
a casual member of staff.
Jess had not long been employed when the Kalgoorlie Centre Manager
resigned and Jess was left to run the entire centre while a new manager
was found. She worked long hours (many volunteer) to ensure the
centre stayed open and all activities continued to run as per normal. Jess
liaised with Head Office when appropriate and made a lot of decisions
that the average 18 year old wouldn’t normally have to make.
Jess continues to provide additional volunteer hours to the centre, above
her paid hours, and is always on hand when there is a job to be done.
Congratulations Jess!
Gareth Merriman (Subiaco PCYC)
Gareth has run Subiaco PCYC Judo classes for over 30 years and has
coached generations of children - literally - now coaching his original
students’ children. He is now also passing along his teaching knowledge
to two younger volunteers, in a
succession planning/mentoring role
that is incredibly important to the long
-term success of Subiaco PCYC's Judo.
Gareth does a great job at directing
vulnerable youth-at-risk he comes into
contact with (through his day job),
helping engage them in activities like
Judo, or recommending they start
other activities like boxing or
gymnastics if that is what their
interested in.
Congratulations Gareth!
AUGUST 2015
And the Winners Are ...
Life Member
Amanda Osboine (Claremont PCYC)
PARTNERSHIP AWARD
City of Albany
The City of Albany (COA) is very supportive of Albany PCYC and in
particular the centre’s Strike 11 program. The City provides funding for
the program and also allows their Youth Development Officer, Tammy
Flett, to assist in numerous ways. Tammy actively seeks out external
funding options for the program and assists PCYC with the acquittals.
Tammy conducts the City’s Youth Advisory meetings at the centre,
which in turn provides valuable feedback as to the needs and issues of
young people in the local community.
PCYC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
AWARD (METROPOLITAN)
Gosnells PCYC
Gosnells PCYC has been recognised for
its outstanding management, strong
centre spirit, inclusive approach and
success in delivering two innovative
youth programs - Stepping Stones and
Full Throttle.
PCYC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
AWARD (REGIONAL)
Collie PCYC
Collie PCYC has been recognised for its
outstanding management, financial
proficiency,
staff
unity
and
professionalism, especially in respect
to delivering its Safe Sanctuary youth
engagement program.
Amanda’s first experience with Claremont PCYC was in 1982 when she
began Kindy Gym classes when she was just two years of age. She then
went on to participate in many other activities during her childhood
including artistic gym, T-ball, jazz ballet, basketball and rhythmic gym.
As a Junior Member she participated in many fundraising activities for
the centre, including helping at discos held at Claremont Footy Club.
Many people contribute to charitable organisations in different ways
but Amanda’s stand-out attribute was her tireless efforts in fundraising.
Amanda played a lead role in the royal show parking for Claremont
PCYC for 9 years, which was an extremely arduous task and involved a
significant amount of (volunteer) time. This was Claremont’s primary
source of fundraising income and was vital in providing funds to
support the centres main activities and programs throughout the year.
During the first few years annual funds raised were around $30,000,
which grew to around $70,000 by 2012 under her guidance. Amanda
was a “hands-on” manager of this activity for the entire duration of the
7 days, working from 6am until 8pm.
Amanda commenced part-time employment at Claremont in 2010 and
her knowledge, experience and passion for PCYC became invaluable
through the Police “transition” phase. Once the decision had been
made to shut the Claremont centre in 2013, Amanda, despite being
very emotional invested in the centre, remained extremely professional
in her approach to all aspects of the closure. She assisted Federation
with the logistical aspects of the shut-down and kept members
informed and up-dated with the progress over an extended period of
time. Once Claremont was officially closed, Amanda assisted where
needed at other PCYC Centres, until her resignation in late 2014.
We thank and acknowledge Amanda for her contribution to PCYC over
the last 30 years and celebrate her newly appointed Life Membership
status.
AUGUST 2015
And the Winners Are ...
PCYC Youth Program Excellence Award (Metropolitan)
Full Throttle (Gosnells PCYC)
Friday Night Girls Program (Fremantle PCYC)
PCYC Youth Program Excellence Award (Regional)
Drop-in Girls Space (Carnarvon PCYC)
Safe Sanctuary (Collie PCYC)
You may recall reading about these fantastic programs in previous editions of
our newsletter.
Recognised YCIO Contribution Award
Senior Constable Jon Macmillan (Albany PCYC)
Jon’s work with young offenders and youth at risk that frequent PCYC is
inspiring. His strong interpersonal skills allows him to deal with people
of all walks of life and he has quickly become involved with the youth in
the Strike 11 Drug Aware Program and adults seeking assistance via the
Ice Breakers program. Jon is also offering his assistance to achieve
sustainability with the aforementioned programs by helping PCYC to
target new funding opportunities.
In other news ...
Gosnells PCYC program suffers due to break-in
Gosnells PCYC has had to put the brakes on its youth engagement
program, Full Throttle, for the first few weeks of June after the centre
suffered a break-in. Among the stolen items were more than 10 bicycles, a
blue go-kart and a large array of tools used in the centre’s program, which
engages local young people in the restoration of damaged, dumped and
donated bikes.
PCYC centre manager Jackie Abbott said
she felt for the participants, who were
devastated by the theft. “They had
literally just donated around a dozen
bikes the week before and the bikes
that were stolen in the break-in were
the ones that that had been working on
to keep themselves,” she said.
The program requires participants to repair several bikes, which are then
given away to other charitable and community organisations. The ethos
behind this is to teach the young people the value and importance of
volunteering and giving back to the community. Once the donation bikes
are completed, participants are able to select a bike to repair and keep for
themselves.
WA PCYC would like to acknowledge
the WA Police department PRESS for
stepping in and donating new tools and
equipment to allow the program still to
run.
AUGUST 2015
Programs in Focus
Friday Night Girls Program @ Freo
Fremantle PCYC’s ‘Friday Night Girls Program’ engages Aboriginal girls aged 13 to 17 years by offering a
safe, secure place to be involved in healthy, constructive activities, as an alternative to turning to negative
activities, such as youth parties, vandalism, and underage drinking. The program is regularly getting
around 15 young women each week and under the guidance of PCYC Youth Worker, Nikki Wormald, the
girls are exposed to an array of activities, workshops and excursions to maintain their interest. A major
part of the program has been cooking and healthy eating workshops, which include planning and cooking
the meals, education on proper food handling, cooking hygiene and nutrition.
The program has become so popular with its participants that Nikki has been arranging other activities
and excursions for the group, outside the regular Friday night time slot. The girls have participated in
several netball carnivals, including the recent NAIDOC week tournament at the brand new State Netball
Centre in Jolimont, which they really enjoyed.
“Safe Space” expands to Midland and Roebourne
PCYC is excited to announce that one of it’s flagship drop-in programs, ‘Safe Space’, has expanded to our Roebourne and Midland Centres, thanks to
an injection of funding by WA Police. The Safe Space initiative aims to engage young people in positive activities during Friday and Saturday evenings,
which are key times when anti-social behaviour is often an issue.
The program’s aim is to help address broader social and family issues within the local community and is based on an early intervention and crime
prevention framework. This is achieved by providing young people a safe environment to socialise and participate in activities instead of falling into
patterns of anti-social behaviour, especially boredom induced criminal activity and drug and alcohol use.
The Midland and Roebourne communities and local agencies have expressed a strong desire for such a program and PCYC, in conjunction with WA
Police, are excited to fill the identified need through Safe Space.
“I believe the Safe Space program is a fantastic initiative and an opportunity to once again provide a service to these young people living in the
Midland region who often find themselves marginalised in their communities,” said Hon Michelle Roberts MLA, Member for Midland.
Safe Space runs on Friday nights from 5:30-9.00pm at Midland PCYC and Saturday nights from 6.00-9.00pm at Roebourne PCYC. Please contact the
relevant centre for more details on midlandpcyc@wapcyc.com.au or roebournepcyc@wapcyc.com.au.
AUGUST 2015
Activities in Focus
Gymnastics now at Midland PCYC!
Midland PCYC has introduced Recreational Gym for ages 5 and above
on Wednesdays 4-5pm. The class is suitable for beginners as is a great
way to enjoy some fitness and skill building in a fun environment. $13
per session or $115 per term. To secure your place or for any queries
contact Midland PCYC on 9274 1918.
Police Rangers—various PCYC Centres
Police Rangers is an adventure based, youth development activity
offered by Cadets WA, open to young people of high school age. You
don't have to want to become a police officer to join. The program is
designed to increase a young person's self confidence, leadership
ability, team building skills and self esteem.
As with most cadet types, Police Rangers works on a rank structure. On
joining you will become a Probationary Ranger. Promotion through the
ranks is based on merit and examinations. And as with all the cadet
types, being involved with the Police Rangers is a chance to have some
serious fun, while learning new skills and gaining valuable experience.
Police Rangers Units operate in selected PCYC Centres and Secondary
Schools. (Visit www.wapcyc.com.au for further details)
Geraldton PCYC - Circus Classes
Geraldton PCYC offers three different circus classes:
Circus Fun/Junior Circus (Wed, Thurs, Fri 4-5pm / Thurs 5-6pm)
A beginners and intermediate guide to all things circus, including:
acrobatics, juggling, spinning plates, stilts, Uni Cycle, tight rope and
lots more! (Suitable for boys and girls aged 5-13 years)
General Circus Skills (Wed 6-7.30pm, Thurs 6-7pm)
A combination of all things circus, as well as building in
strengthening and flexibility. (Suitable for males/females aged 14+)
Women’s Circus and Aerials (Monday Evenings 6.00-7.30pm)
Build confidence, strength and flexibility with specifically designed
warm ups, strength and stretching sequences as well as learning
the foundations of juggling, manipulation, aerials, and trapeze.
Each class benefits muscle tone and core strengthening, as well as
providing an opportunity for fun and friendship!
The Rockingham Police Rangers proudly volunteered their time to assist at the
Rotary Club Gunfire Breakfast at Rockingham PCYC on ANZAC day this year.
Call Geraldton PCYC for more information on 9921 1317
AUGUST 2015
PCYC … Community Events
‘Roo Stew and Drum Beats bring locals together
Collie PCYC held a cultural showcase event in June with around 70 young people and adults turning up to celebrate the diversity of the local
community. The night opened at 5pm with a traditional Welcome to Country ceremony presented by Joe Northover and local community members
from Ngalang Boodja.
Food played a big part in bringing the group together, with the young people participating in scone and damper making with a helping hand from
members of Collie’s Country Women’s Association. A traditional ingredient with a modern twist then featured on the menu, with the group enjoying
a feast of ‘roo burgers with ‘roo stew.
However, the biggest hit of the night was definitely the drumming workshop facilitated by Sean from
Djembemoves. The young people that got to participate in this have already started to ask PCYC Manager, Amanda
Dow, when Sean can come back to visit and do another workshop with them.
“The idea of the event was to create a cultural bridge and pride within the community. We achieved our main aim,
which was to share the various cultures we have in Collie in order to create a better understanding of one and
other” said PCYC case manager, Tayt Oden (pictured right, with PCYC’s Mascot “Camo”).
Collie PCYC would like to thank all that were involved, especially the Department of Local Government and
Communities and the Shire of Collie, who provided funding for the event.
Exmouth Dog Show
Community flock to Quiz Night to support Freo youth
Exmouth PCYC and the Shire of Exmouth partnered together to host a
Dog Show on Thursday 16 July, to offer a free and entertaining event to
the community during the School Holiday period.
Fremantle PCYC hosted a quiz night on Friday 2 July and staff and
volunteers were overwhelmed with the response from both sponsors and
the local community alike. It was a full house, with 160 people packing
the centre, and team “‘Heather’s Heroes” took the honours.
The event has been run in previous years and
proved again to be very popular this year, as
the locals certainly love to show off their dogs.
“The Dog Show is a bit of fun for the whole
family, and it’s great to celebrate our dogs as
they add so much to our lives,”
said PCYC Centre Support Officer,
Lauren Rampling.
We would like to give a big thank you to all our sponsors, with special
mention to: the Esplanade Hotel, the Fremantle Dockers, the West Coast
Eagles, the National Hotel, Little Creatures, Kmart, Coles, Reed’s Butcher’s
and Vale’s Fish and Burger Grill.
The event raised an impressive $2,500, which will be used to support the
centre’s Friday Night Girls Program (featured on page 5). The participants
of this program were a great asset at the event, helping with set-up,
running the sausage sizzle and selling raffle tickets throughout the night .
AUGUST 2015
Camp Kalbarri
PCYC’s Camp Kalbarri provides the opportunity for ADVENTURE, education and
fun
in a beautiful and relaxing environment.
Camp Kalbarri is a place for everyone, with schools, sporting teams, corporate
groups, community organisations, church groups and even families enjoying
our facilities! Set on three acres overlooking the stunning Murchison River,
Camp Kalbarri is just a short walk from fabulous swimming beaches and just
five minutes from the town centre.
We have four separate lodging facilities that can sleep up to 14 guests in bunk
bed, dorm-style accommodation. We have separate supervisor rooms in each
dorm, comprising of two single beds with a wardrobe and each dorm has a
separate shower and toilet block.
The camp has a fully equipped commercial kitchen for self-catering groups, or
if you’re looking for a bit more relaxation time, we can arrange a local
catering service.
Indoor recreational facilities include: TV, Video / DVD, pool table, stereo
sound system. Outdoor facilities include: a grassed playing field, basketball
half court, volleyball court, barbecue, sporting equipment, a tennis practise
wall and a campfire (in season).
5 REASONS TO CHOOSE CAMP KALBARRI
Affordable accommodation with million dollar views
Great spot to escape the winter cold of Perth
Hike the stunning gorges of the Kalbarri
National Park
Plenty of natural adventure activities on offer
Just a short walk to beautiful swimming beaches
For a tailored quote contact Peter on T: 9937 1630 or E: kalbarripcyc@wapcyc.com.au
AUGUST 2015
Support Us ...
As a not-for-profit organisation we rely on the generous support of donors, volunteers and businesses to help us continue our life-changing work.
You can support us in a number of ways:
Raffle
Call 1300 265 162 to purchase some “lucky numbers” in our regular raffles, for the chance to win $26, 000 worth of CASH prizes.
Regular Giving
Becoming a regular donor is one of the best ways you can choose to support PCYC. Regular giving helps to keep our fundraising and administration
costs to a minimum, meaning more of every dollar raised can go directly towards assisting youth-at-risk.
One-off donation
Do you want to reduce your tax bill, or maybe you like the flexibility of a one-off gift? You can donate to PCYC anytime via cash, cheque, direct
deposit or credit card online or over the phone.
In-kind donations
All our centres are really appreciative of any new or used items in good condition (such as computers, electrical & sporting equipment).
Corporate Sponsorship
PCYC has numerous options for corporate organisations to support key programs, including naming rights opportunities.
Payroll Giving
The initiative of many employers, a payroll-donation program allows staff to make an easy, regular donation to their chosen charity, such as PCYC.
For employers, a payroll giving program offers the opportunity to make a significant and lasting impact on the work of PCYC, through a direct tax
deductible donation from participating employees’ pay. Any employer with staff can start a program.
Bequest
A gift of a bequest is a gift of tomorrow.
One of the most important ways you can help the work of PCYC in the future is by including a bequest (gift) in your Will. After you have made
provision for your family & friends, you may like to consider PCYC.
Volunteer
PCYC, including Blue Light and Police Rangers, relies on the help of around 500 volunteers each year to ensure our activities run smoothly and safely.
Volunteers also reduce the economic burden on centres, meaning fees can be kept low and affordable to all.
To find out more about supporting PCYC contact us today on 9277 4388 or email info@wapcyc.com.au
AUGUST 2015