PCYC NSW (Overview & Mission)
Once known as the Police Boys Club (1937 joint venture between NSW Police and Rotary Club of Sydney), PCYC facilities today are a centre for fun, fitness & friendship, where young people, male and female, can enjoy a wide range of sports, performing arts and recreational activities in a safe environment. Throughout NSW there are over 140 different activities in the clubs thus catering for a wide range of interests. As stated in the PCYC Mission we get young people active in life; we work with young people to develop their skills, character and leadership; we reduce and prevent crime by and against young people.
PCYC is the largest youth organisation in NSW with 59 clubs, 70,000 members, 120 Police officers, 400 staff, and 2,500 volunteers. And the PCYC is on target to reach 75,000 members by the organisation’s 75th anniversary in 2012.
With the support of public donations, more than 1,400 kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are given free membership to clubs each year.
The Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai PCYC (opened in 1968) has around 2,000 members and in access of 5,000 visits per month.
For young people brought to the attention of PCYC through the juvenile justice system, courts, local police or schools, PCYC police officers based in the clubs use a range of resources and specially designed programs (“Targeted Programming”) to work with the young offenders and youth at risk. These programs often involve other agencies and professionals to teach vital life skills like how to deal with violence, anger management, sex, health and relationships, drugs and alcohol abuse, self-esteem, or assistance with training and employment. PCYC means less truancy, less crime, and more young people feeling better about themselves, and being more confident and socially capable.
PCYC History
The Police & Community Youth Club
organisation can trace its origins back to 1937 when the Commissioner
of Police, William John Mackay, and the Rotary Club of Sydney joined
forces to establish a venue where boys could engage in sporting,
cultural and recreational pursuits and mix with police in a
non-confrontational environment. The purpose was to improve the
relationship between the youth and the police and so help reduce the
incidence of juvenile crime and anti social behaviour. The first club
officially known as the Police-Rotary Boys Club was opened on the 1st
April 1937 in a disused police station located in Woolloomooloo.
In July 1937 the founders of the Woolloomooloo Club began the process
of bringing together other boys clubs that police had initiated around
the state (Bega, Cooma, Cootamundra, Goulburn, Tamworth, Yass and
Young) and placing them under the authority of a central governing
council.
On the 23rd September 1938 the Federation of the NSW Police Boys Club
was incorporated with a Council of Management comprised of Commissioner
Mackay and a further nine individuals including police officers, public
servants and businessmen.
Over time the organisation grew strongly with clubs being established
throughout Sydney and in most regional centres around NSW and the clubs
were managed by police officers. It is today one of the largest youth
organisations in Australia consisting of 59 clubs with approx 70,000
members and hundreds of volunteers.
The name of the organisation has changed over time to reflect the
important role of the community/citizen input (becoming the Federation
of Police Citizens Boys’ Club in 1945) and the provision of services
for both male and females (becoming the Federation of Police Citizens
Youth Clubs in 1985). In 1995 the name was changed again to the Police
& Community Youth Club NSW Ltd.
The focus of the PCYC had gradually steered towards sport and physical
fitness and the clubs produced many champions in sports such as boxing,
weight lifting, wrestling and gymnastics. The Ministerial Advisory
Committee (MAC) Review conducted in 1988 recommended that a more
“Community Policing” focus approach was required for the organisation
and that clubs should target youth “at risk” as a priority.
Over the past few years civilian managers have been appointed to the
PCYC’s to take over the day to day running of clubs thus freeing up
Police Officers in the PCYC Command to focus more on ‘targeted
programming’ engaging with young offenders and youth at risk.
For more information contact:
PP Peter Kirkwood
Rotary Club of Waitara
District 9680
E: kirkwood@cpi.com.au