A program helping to change young lives is being tailored to the local community for great results across the New England.
PCYC NSW’s Fit for Life program is changing young lives across regional New South Wales, using early-morning fitness, mentoring and police partnerships to build stronger, healthier communities.
The youth charity’s before-school initiative targets 10 to 16-year-olds, and involved kids being picked up, taken to the club, fed breakfast, and getting involved in some morning exercise or sport, starting their day right with the support of local Police Youth Engagement Officers. It’s designed to reduce antisocial behaviour, improve school attendance, and help young people form positive relationships with mentors and community role models.
“Fit for Life is an inclusive and respectful place that everyone can come to,” said participant Noah Hughes. “We help each other up and make sure we hold each other accountable.”
Across the state, Fit for Life continues to grow, with more than 3,900 young people signing up so far this year and over 24,000 attendances – up from 18,900 in the same period last year.
In the New England, the program’s success is clear. PCYC Gunnedah Club Manager Jessica Blair, who is also the sector manager with oversight of all the region’s clubs, said the program is really working well with different tweaks to suit each local community.
“It’s a unique program, and the benefits from it have been proven through the way that it’s designed,” said Ms Blair.
“We do tailor it to suit each community, but I think that’s one of its greatest strengths.”
The program’s flexibility allows each community to make it their own, with each club working out local partnerships that work in their community.
“We often see sporting group mentors come in and run a session with the kids, or we’ll be involved with the local Rotary clubs and just partner with different local organisations who want to have that positive experience.”
“It broadens the kids’ scope where they’re not just going to school, they’re actually engaging with future employers, creating reputations and connections that will benefit them later in life.”
In the Gunnedah and Armidale, those partnerships are paying off with participation well above the average.
“Armidale’s weekly participation is about 70 participants per week, and Gunnedah has 30 kids every week,” said Blair. “We get really good participation from the schools.”
She said each club focuses differently depending on its community’s needs.
“Armidale and Gunnedah have built it as a long-term approach, engaging the kids while they’re in primary school so that they’re actively engaged for a longer period of time and we can see better results,” she said.
By contrast, the programs in Tamworth and Moree are working with smaller groups of young people who are considered most at risk in those later high school years. In Moree, Fit for Life has been designed in partnership with the Moree Secondary College Clontarf Academy, which leads many of the activities and works directly with students to improve engagement and wellbeing.
“Having the police as a strong partnership, being able to be involved in picking the children up, cooking the breakfast and playing basketball or doing fitness with the kids, it’s really making a difference.
Blair said that the partnerships between police and young people were vital in communities where those relationships could be strained.
“It’s putting the youth and the police in a positive environment, so they’re breaking down those barriers that are in every community right now,” she said.
Participant Jayden said his experience with PCYC had been life-changing.
“I was not at school much, and always running amuck a bit, but since I started coming here meeting all the staff, they’re good people so they changed me around a bit,” he said.
“I would definitely recommend PCYC’s Fit for Life, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened.”
More information about the program is available from the PCYC website
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