Youth clubs foster great community spirit

From gymnastics to cheerleading, box-ing to martial arts, dance to discos, the Police-Citizens Youth Clubs have it all!

With 45 branches throughout Queens-land, Australia, PCYC have more than 100 different activities for young people to enjoy, with activities varying from branch to branch.

The Youth Clubs facilitate and en-courage participation in sporting, recreation, cultural and welfare programs with the aim of improving the lives of individual members, and also of developing local communities throughout the state.

“PCYCs are a great place to come and socialise, play sports, or learn something new,” said Mark Walker, PCYC Corporate Services Manager.  “We run affordable activities for all ages, ranging from fitness, martial arts and sports to dance classes, music, and bike safety education.  We also organise various seasonal events, such as dance parties, festivals and sporting competitions,” he said.

“Our facilities include indoor and outdoor sports areas, indoor spaces which are used for various activities, before and after school care, Youth Spaces — dedicated recreational areas for young people with gaming equipment, movies, pool tables, even DJ equipment in some cases!”

Mark said that as a non-government, not-for-profit organisation, PCYC was very careful with its expenditure.

In August 2008, through the DonorTec program, the organisation received over $15,000 worth of Microsoft® equipment, including software and licensing, at a fraction of the cost.

“We have just received an organisation-wide donation,” explained Mark.  “We have previously only accessed small items in the past at a few locations.”

Mark said the donated goods had enabled PCYC to roll out a statewide IT platform where all PC’s will have standard systems and a standard operating environment.

He said youth who used the PCYC services had benefited from the donation because the cost of the upgrade was not being passed on to the members.

“I would really recommend DonorTec to other not-for-profits because it’s a great program that is probably too good for people to believe.  We are very lucky that a large corporate such as Microsoft provides this support to organisations like ours,” explained Mark.  “We tend to cut corners and take the least expensive options in our IT provisioning and this program has allowed us to provide high quality software solutions.”

Who are they?
The Police-Citizens Youth Clubs

Where are they?
Throughout Queensland, Australia

What do they do?
The Youth Clubs facilitate and encourage participation in sporting, recreation,
cultural and welfare programs with the aim of improving the lives of individual members, and developing local communities throughout the state.

What did they receive?
Microsoft® equipment including software packages and licensing.

The outcome?
“We tend to cut corners and take the least expensive options in our IT provisioning and this program has allowed us to provide high quality software solutions,”
- Mark Walker

ww.pcyc.org.au