“WE’RE about getting kids active,” Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) NSW CEO Darren Black said to committee members and interested parties at a recent meeting in Bega.
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The PCYC Far South Coast is in its early stages of development and the morning was spent establishing close links with council, police, community and service organisations in the region.
“Down here we have to think of a different model,” he said.
“It looks like being a fairly mobile outreach type of operation.”
Mr Black highlighted the protection, development and enablement of young people as the core values of the organisation, which is adapting its approach to implementation on the Far South Coast due to a lack of transport access within the region.
“PCYCs were never designed with one blueprint involved,” he added.
The area’s limited resources and large coastal area were also put forward as obstacles that were to be hopefully overcome through forums and ongoing consultation and collaboration with the community.
“It has been developed jointly by Eurobodalla and Bega Valley Shire Councils in collaboration with the Local Area Command who have worked together proactively to investigate the most appropriate early intervention models for the region,” Far South Coast club manager Gary Dunbar said before the meeting.
“While traditional service models rely on a static mode of delivery, this model takes the programs directly to the community.”
Commander of the Police Youth Command, Superintendent David Scrimgeour said youth aged 10-17 with three or more incidents with police will be the target group, and that the activities must contain the three components of activity, education and nutrition.
He said data for the Far South Coast had shown that while youth crime was low in the region, drug detection was high.
“Two councils coming together is a feat in itself,” Supt Scrimgeour said.
“We will be looking at things such as running multiple services under one roof.
“The whole point of it all is that it is to be relevant to young people,” he said.
In attendance were members of NSW Police, Bega Valley Shire Council, members of the PCYC FSC interim committee, Southern Ability Links NSW, and Community Training Partnerships.
