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Metropolitan Police & Community Youth Clubs

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PCYC is a state wide partnership between young people, the community and the NSW Police Force working to assist young people develop the qualities to be responsible citizens and leaders and to avoid becoming offenders or victims of crime.

The PCYC is a registered charity and company that supports the NSW Police Force. In general, the Force allocates two officers to each of the 56 clubs located throughout the State. Police personnel are also located at the PCYC State Office to provide administrative and supervisory support.

PCYC offer a range of facilities and services for young people that enhance personal and community safety, improve police and community relations (particularly with young people), and provide opportunities to improve the quality of life for young people. While the principle aim for police within PCYC is to provide a means for delivering a policing service to young people

History of PCYC

The first PCYC was established in 1937 jointly by the NSW Police Force and Rotary Club of Sydney under the name of Police “Boys Club”. It provided recreational facilities primarily for young boys to reduce the rising level of inner city juvenile crime. The name of the organisation has changed over time to reflect the provision of services and to highlight the community’s involvement and support.

PCYC today consists of 56 clubs statewide.

Each club’s activities and services vary according to local needs, club facilities, resources and community support. They generally include:

  • crime reduction and prevention programs which target young people who are at high risk of crime eg. malicious damage, stealing and street offences
  • educational programs dealing with youth crime and other community issues (eg. personal safety and crime prevention)
  • sporting and recreational activities conducted outside school hours and during school holidays including martial arts, dancing, camps, basketball etc.
  • initiatives dealing with such community problems as truancy, unemployment, self-esteem and boredom.

Membership

Membership is unrestricted which helps explain why more than 55 000 people are involved with the organisation.

To make PCYC work we rely on dedicated volunteers who support the police attached to clubs. Clubs also employ staff to assist with administration, cleaning and other duties not filled by volunteers.

Each club has a volunteer management committee elected from the members. Committees assist the police with the overall management of individual clubs.

 

CAMP MacKAY

Camp MacKay, which was situated in the outer northwestern suburb of Kurrajong, was established in 1938 by a combination of purchases, donations and bequests. Hundreds of thousands of kids have had the opportunity to visit Camp MacKay. It has moulded many lives because of the experiences they have there. Camp MacKay is 170 acres, or 67.29 hectares, of hope for the battlers of this State. It was originally established to cater for disadvantaged kids in the Sydney area and for the young people who wandered aimlessly around the streets. It was set up for the kids from poor families; the kids without parents and without much hope; the kids who needed a little bit of tender loving care and guidance; the kids who had a dislike for the law; and the kids who needed hope.

Camp MacKay was set up to develop better citizens and to give poor kids a holiday in the country. Many people have become good citizens because of Camp MacKay.

April 1994:  The Premier and the State Government are almost ready to put a stop to all that. They are in the process of getting everything ready to sell Camp MacKay.  In 1983 the interdepartmental committee of the police force said that it was uneconomical to have full-time police at Camp MacKay. The Labor Party disagreed with that in 1983 and, as a result, it did not move on either of the recommendations that came out of those reports.

When the Greiner Government came to power in 1988 it wielded the axe and took away the police involvement in Camp MacKay. That Government adopted the user pays catchcry. That catchcry has probably been the downfall of Camp MacKay. In 1990 Jones Lang Wootton were commissioned to carry out a property evaluation of the site. That did not come as a surprise to many people in that part of western Sydney. The writing was on the wall. When the property evaluation was carried out four years ago the land was valued at just under $3 million. Today it is worth a lot more. Delegates of the Federation of Police Citizens Youth Clubs have called a meeting for Saturday 30 April 1994. That meeting will decide whether they sell the Camp MacKay facility. The reason they are putting forward is that too much money will have to be spent on repairs to bring it up to today’s standards. That is understandable because for many years very little money has been spent on maintenance.

Most of the kids and their families who have attended Camp MacKay will probably never be Liberal or National Party voters so the Government would not do too much electoral harm to itself by closing the camp. The Government is proposing to take away a facility from the poor.  Camp MacKay was put there for the battlers and the strugglers to give kids a chance. It has been a great success since 1938. In 1991 3,773 people – members, non-members and special class visitors – attended Camp MacKay. In 1992 the figure rose to 4,308. In 1993 it was a staggering 14,580. This facility is working, yet the Government is talking about closing it down.

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19940420019

 

For further information you may wish to contact your local PCYC or the PCYC State Office.

PCYC State Office is at 1A Cleary Avenue, Belmore 2192. Telephone (02) 9740 4777.

E-mail to stateoffice@pcycnsw.org.au

POLICE & COMMUNITY YOUTH CLUBS
STATE OFFICE – 1A CLEARY AVE, BELMORE 2192
PO BOX 316, BELMORE 2192
PH: 9740 4777
FAX: 9740 3055

4 thoughts on “Metropolitan Police & Community Youth Clubs

  • George Rolfe

    I got bronze medal duke of edenbrough award scheme Michael Norman Ham Rolfe at this place thank you thanks fe trying

    Reply
  • So glad to have been to Camp Mackay twice from Griffith NSW – even sadder that it’s sold off at an unimaginable loss to NSW Community in so many ways

    Reply
  • I attended here via Parramatta PCYC (Police Boys Club) in 1972. My memories, though getting vague, are all positive. PCYC Parramatta gave us respect for Police & Camp MacKay reinforced that because Police spent their own personal time to go there & play a multitude of sports & swimming activities as well as laying on great tucker. One of our number came all the way from Mt Druitt, which at that time was new & a struggling area out in the sticks & I know it lifted him. Having just read about attempts to wind up this magnificent facility has deeply saddened me & it’s a slap in the face to the Police who took their time to help us grow. Greed & nearsighted foolishness. I wonder how many of us boys stayed on the straight & narrow after the magic of Camp MacKay & the efforts of a few good coppers keeping us focused at a time when there was nothing else for us. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

    Reply
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