INDIGENOUS PROGRAMS NEWSLETTER I Edition 1, 2014 Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development WELCOME from General Manager Indigenous Programs PCYCs Queensland School Age Care On behalf of PCYCs Queensland Indigenous Programs Development Unit we welcome you to the first edition of our quarterly newsletter. PCYC has been operating for 66 years in Queensland and is now offering support to more than 70 communities across the state. Our aim is consistent in all areas - provide opportunities for all young people and their community to maximise their potential, whether this be in locations such as Brisbane, St George or Mapoon. The Indigenous Programs Development Unit provides governance for the targeted programs supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to actively participate in PCYC programs across forty-one Queensland communities. PCYCs footprint within Queensland Indigenous Communities was established in 1988 through the creation of the Yarrabah Activities Centre. This was the beginning for further development of Indigenous PCYC Branches within the Mornington Island, Palm Island and Doomadgee Communities with expansion of programs across the CAPE Communities. PCYC is committed to ongoing consultation with Indigenous Communities leading to the development and delivery of targeted programs that aim to respond effectively to the needs of the Indigenous communities that we work in close partnership with. This newsletter provides a wonderful opportunity to take a close look into the diversity of people, programs, places and the outcomes being achieved for aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people. We encourage you to actively share this newsletter throughout your family, community and working networks. The IPDU takes great pride in the strong working relationships that we have established with all of the communities we work with and advocate for in our day to day roles. We value every little achievement and embrace the challenges that come with working in some very remote locations across Queensland. We look forward to sharing these challenges and successes with you through this publication and invite you to actively contribute to this information sharing process by whatever means you can. I thank you for your support and look forward to working with your community to achieve positive outcomes for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People of Queensland. Andrea Cassidy GM-INDIGENOUS PROGRAMS PCYC Queensland PCYC Townsville PCYC Townsville SAC Program children showing us their best snake pose after enjoying some Traditional Indigenous Games facilitated by our Bowen and Mackay Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Officer s. Lockhart Youth Basketball For the past month on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons the youth in Lockhart River met up at the local school basketball courts to have a game of social basketball. This has now sparked the interest of the local school teachers, nurses and young women coming on down to participate, making new friends whilst keeping fit and having fun. The young ladies are keen and have requested for basketball skills and drills and to have a mini mixed 3 on 3 competition happening. Advice: this publication may contain images of and references to people who are deceased. We acknowledge and pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the lands on which our services are placed & their continuing connection to land, sea, and community. We also acknowledge and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
PCYC Hervey Bay Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 2
South East Queensland Mini Cluster Conference Deadly Sports Expo Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Officers have been gathering over the past few weeks in Cooktown, Weipa, Brisbane and Townsville to participate in their inaugural mini-cluster meetings. It has been great for the teams to get together for a yarn to celebrate their successes, as well as tackle some of the issues they face when delivering programs in their communities. With only one Cluster Conference remaining for our North-Western ICSRP Officers planned for 10th/11th Dec to be delivered. There have been some great ideas flowing to date and all are excited for an action-packed 2014. We have a fantastic team working across the state to deliver good outcomes for Indigenous People through the State Government s Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Program. Having a ball at Chinchilla s Deadly Sports Expo More than 500 primary school students from the Chinchilla region gathered today to participate in the Queensland Government s Deadly Sports Expo. Proudly supported by PCYC s Indigenous Community Sport & Recreation Program Officers from Goondiwindi, Dalby, St George, Charleville and Ipswich in partnership with the South West Indigenous Network (SWIN) through the joint delivery of various sporting & cultural activities. This event provides great opportunities for young Queenslanders to participate in approximately 20 sports in one day! It is hoped that this program will support the young participants into ongoing sport and recreation participation. Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 3
PCYC Sunshine Coast PCYC Toowoomba Wanna Be Deadly Carnival hosted by PCYC Sunshine Coast The Black Swans Sunshine Coast recently with drop offs resulting in an eventual 3 held their annual Wanna Be Deadly on 3 exciting finale. A big feed, a jumping regional touch footy carnival on Sunday castle waterslide and The GMU dancers November 18th with visiting teams from were also highlights of a great family day. Murgon, Cherbourg (supported through This year s Regional Carnival was funded the Qld Government s Indigenous through the Sunshine Coast Regional Community Sport and Recreation Program) Council. The KYC team from Caboolture and Caboolture coming along to the took out the Yulungji Cup, named, with Sunshine Coast PCYC for a family fun permission from the family, after a young day. Black Swans is a partnership program local boy recently lost in a car accident. between Family Planning Queensland, Sergeant Marty Hunt said It was a great Queensland Health Cultural Healing and day after some tragic weeks had passed Sunshine Coast PCYC which brings the for the local community. We are so pleased local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island to have been able to host this event in community together monthly for sport and honour of the young lad who loved to come family activities. to PCYC and play footy each month. It was There was a great spirit of sportsmanship an emotional day and that was shown in throughout the day as everyone young the respect and sportsmanship displayed and old played together. The final was a throughout the event. gripping encounter between a Cherbourg PCYC and the Black Swans program want team and Caboolture with the scores to thank all the families who attended and locked at full time. Extra time was played made the day such a success. Toowoomba International tennis tournament Good luck to the Toowoomba International tennis tournament delegation at the Newcombe Medal Australian Tennis awards which are being held tonight in Melbourne! The 2013 Hutchinson Builders Toowoomba International is a finalist for National Tennis Tournament of the Year. Both our Toowoomba PCYC Indigenous Sport and Rec Program and SSN All Abilities sports program were involved in the various community engagements tennis programs that ran throughout the tournament and are proud to have played a role in the tournament s success both on a state stage (the Tournament recently won QLD Tennis tournament of the year award) and now a national stage as well. Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 4
Sport and Recreation PCYC Toowoomba ICSRP Officers support the Paanja Cultural Festival at Mapoon The Indigenous Community Sport and This event was especially significant this Recreation Program Team arrived year as it marks the 50th anniversary of the in Mapoon last Friday to support the Mapoon Community. Minister ofr National celebration of the Paanaja Cultural Festival Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing The held over the weekend. Indigenous Honourable Steve Dickson attended to official Community Sport and Recreation Officers open this event and see first-hand the positive from the communities of Wujal Wujal, impact the State Government s investment Coen, Lockhart, Aurukun, Napranum, into supporting delivery of sport and recreation Mapoon and Northern Peninsula Area programs across Qld Communities is having. (NPA) along with Indigenous Programs A vote of thanks to our 9 Indigenous Development Unit (IPDU) Staff - Jason Community Sport and Rec Officers, 2 Senior Holt and Nicole Assan to support delivery Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation of Traditional Indigenous Games for this Coordinators, Jason and Nicole (IPDU) for cultural celebration. supporting this event over the weekend! Big future for Noah Congratulations from the Toowoomba PCYC Indigenous Sport and Rec Program to another local rising Indigenous athlete, Noah Silcox-Smith, as Noah is currently tearing up the courts for the Toowoomba Mountaineers representative side in the Basketball QLD Junior Basketball Competition. Noah is a SWIN Small Grants Program recipient and with his passion for the game we re predicting a big future on the hardwood for Noah! Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 5
Out & About PCYC Mackay Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 6
Horn Island Ngoonbi Co-operative Horn Island Basketball Skill, Drills and Refereeing During the second week of the September in a two day Junior Basketball Carnival on school holidays saw retired National Thursday Island. This consisted of round Basketball League players Kerry Williams robin games playing against teams from from Cairns Taipans and Michael Cedar Thursday Island to showcase the sills they from the Townsville Crocs deliver had learnt. It was great to see a good turn basketball skills, drills and refereeing clinics up of youths and adults for the clinics and at Horn Island. the support from parents coming along to The basketball skills and drills were the Junior Carnival to encourage the youths targeted at U12 s and U19 s. From basic in their games said Sheila PCYC Sports dribbling, passing and shooting techniques and Recreation Officer. All that participated to ending the sessions of with 3 on 3 and enjoyed learning from the best in the game shoot out games. From the skills and drills and in particular watching dunk machine clinics on Horn Island the youths were then Deba George putting on a dunk show for provided with the opportunity to participate the kids. Ngoonbi Co-operative Society Limited (Kuranda) Kowrowa Multi Sport The Kowrowa Multi Sport is held every Tuesday at the Kowrowa field from 3pm to 5:45pm, all are welcome. The youth play a variety of games including touch, cricket, t-ball, skipping, tennis ball and red rover to name a few. The activity also provides an opportunity to survey the youth and get ideas and feedback for future activities and school holiday programs. All participants enjoy the Tuesday multi-sport activity. Participants from Kuranda and Mantaka also attend the Kowrowa multi-sport. Artilce s / Photos By: Rosa Senior Sports and Rec Coordinator, Ngoonbi Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 7
Welcome to Aurukun!!! During the PCYC activities that have been running in Aurukun this year we have seen a lot of enjoyment from the children around working together in areas such as camping, fishing and playing sport. And it all comes together when the whole community gathers for discos, bringing all ages, families and friendship groups together. Article By: Marlene Koelmeyer, PCYC Senior Sports and Rec Coordinator, Aurukun Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 8
Cooktown Cluster Conference NO. OF PATICIPANTS 15,000 12,500 10,000 7,500 5,000 2,500 0 8,573 Hopevale 1,767 618 1,263 599 1,331 Wujal Wujal Mossman Gorge Kuranda LOCATIONS Yarrabah Cooktown 14,151 Total From the 4 7 November 2013 PCYC Indigenous Community Sports and Recreational Officers (ICSRO s) travelled by troopie s to Cooktown to participate in the 1st Far North Queensland Indigenous Community Sports and Recreational Officer s Cluster Conference. The Officers came from near and far - Mossman Gorge, Kuranda, Yarrabah, Wujal Wujal and HopeVale. The aim of the ICSRO s Cluster Conference was to bring together the ICSRO s to share the highlight s of program activities they have delivered in 2013, obtain feedback, and to strengthen working relationship with other Officer s from across the FNQ Cluster Region. Day One covered a brief overview of the IPDU current progressions, developments and quarterly reporting. The Officer s found the quarterly reporting presentation interesting as the data from there reports were presented in pie graphs so they could see how there location s was tracking with total number of participants, ages, activities. During the lunch break the Officer s got to create and design their own Melbourne Cup hats. All the Officers got creative from hats with flowers to hats with butterflies and feathers. The kids from the Cooktown PCYC School Aged Care judged the hats which saw Allister Gibson Sports & Rec Officer from Wujal Wujal take out the best hat prize. On Day Two saw a full on agenda from each Officer s presenting a location brief, promote and market program events, budget s, and creative brief writing. Officers were nervous about presenting in front of an audience but with a little bit of encouraging words they got up and did themselves proud. Best Hat Winner Allister Gibson (Wujal Wujal) Teneille Nuggins Sports and Rec Officer HopeVale Jason Holt Program Manager Cairns Brayden Grogan & Rod Duffin Sports and Rec Officer s Kuranda Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 9
Cooktown Cluster Conference Officers got to do some fishing in their own time down at the local wharf. Catch of the night was a mackerel which was cooked up and enjoyed by all at the BBQ. At the BBQ Petrina Neller presented Howard Pratt the Branch Manager of Cooktown PCYC a thank you gift from the PCYC IPDU Sports and Rec Officers. Feedback from the Officer s was they enjoyed being out of there community even if it was for a short time and found the information useful and will assist them with future program planning in their locations. Patrick Nandy Sports and Rec Officer Wujal Wujal Kimberley Gibson Sports and Rec Officer Cooktown Petrina Neller Sports and Rec Officer Mossman Gorge Malcolm Canendo Sports and Rec Officer Yarrabah Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 10
Mareeba s All Star Rugby League Side Tablelands Regional Council have shown great support & provide team jerseys On Tuesday and Wednesday nights the Pulse Café is run out of the Mareeba PCYC. On an average night around 30 at risk Indigenous youths participate in the Pulse program. The program is aimed at providing an opportunity for at risk young people to learn some basic life skills in a fun and safe environment. An important focus of the program is to help the youth make positive life decisions. Pulse also looks to increase healthy cooking options and nutrition knowledge amongst Indigenous young people In early February this year an Indigenous rugby league school boy s side was formed from those attending the Pulse Café program. The team was created as a reward for the kids who were going to school and staying out of trouble. As a group they came up with a name and a slogan to wear on their team jersey. A few of the team members also came up with the main design for the team jersey. They decided to call themselves the Allstars. The team slogan is Every Day Counts and reflects the main purpose of the side. The team has quickly become very important to the boys and have begun to show a lot of ownership of the team. Regularly attending school and showing up consistently for training has become a normal routine for many of the kids. Many of the youth would previously just skip school. Being a part of the team serves as a great motivator for the boys to go to school and to behave themselves while at school. Kids who are not regularly attending school are not allowed to play in the side and this has lead to decreased truancy rates by a lot of the boys. The team has played 5 games so far and are yet to lose a single game. They have travelled to play sides from Yarrabah, Kuranda, Mossman, Ravenshoe and Dimbulah. The match against Ravenshoe in the pouring rain has been a particular highlight so far. For the away games, Mareeba PCYC has provided the buses that have been used to travel to each of the different locations. These away games have resulted in some fun road trips and have served as a great way to form closer bonds in the group. A big positive has been that every team that we have played have only had positive things to say about the team and in particular their attitude. The Tablelands Regional Council have shown great support for the team and provided the funding for the purchase of the team jerseys. Michael Haendel who is the main driving force behind the team and the Tablelands Council are also in the process of creating a documentary to follow the success of the team. The documentary will be screened at the graduation ceremony of the Pulse program which we are planning to hold later in the year. Article By: Thomas Galloway, PCYC Sports and Rec Officer, Mareeba Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 11
Indigenous Program Development Unit (IPDU) Contacts Andy Cassidy General Manager Indigenous Programs P: 07 3909 9568 F: 07 3909 9533 M: 0402 200 057 Email: andy.cassidy@pcyc.org.au Glenn Dennis Indigenous Programs Manager - South Queensland P: (07) 3909-9567 F: (07) 3909-9533 M: 0413 209 859 Email: glenn.dennis@pcyc.org.au Shellee-Anne Petersen Indigenous Program Development Assistant - South Queensland P: (07) 3909-9581 F: 07) 3909-9533 Email: shellee-anne.petersen@pcyc.org.au Jason Holt Indigenous Program Manager - North Queensland P: 07 4032 0555 F: 07 4032 4454 M: 0409 242 930 Email: jason.holt@pcyc.org.au Nicole Assan Indigenous Program Support Officer - North Queensland P: 07 4032 0555 F: 07 4032 4454 M: 0428 908 628 Email: Nicole.assan@pcyc.org.au Sheree Hoswell Indigenous Programs Development Unit Administration Manager, Small Grants Coordinator Far North Queensland P: 07 4032 0555 F: 07 4032 4454 Email: sheree.hoswell@pcyc.org.au Emily Montgomery Indigenous Program Development Assistant - North Queensland P: (07) 4032 0555 F: 07) 4032 4454 Email: emily.montgomery@pcyc.org.au Lavenia Tuibua Indigenous Program Partnership Coordinator P: 07 4755 0178 F: 07 4779 0796 M: 0408 726 471 Email: lavenia.tuibua@pcyc.org.au Shane Cahill Indigenous Programs Development Unit Administration Manager NQ P: 07 4755 0178 F: 07 4779 0796 Email: shane.cahill@pcyc.org.au Bonnie Poler Indigenous Program Development Unit Finance Officer P: 07 3909 9522 F: 07 3909 9533 Email: bonnie.poler@pcyc.org.au Kate Hams Deadly Alive/QEIP Program Manager P: 07 4032 0555 F: 07 4032 4454 M: 0400 224 697 Email: kate.hams@pcyc.org.au Kylie Young Deadly Alive/QEIP Project Coordinator P: 07 4032 0555 F: 07 4032 4454 M: 0418 217 934 Email: kylie.young@pcyc.org.au Proudly supported by Working together in the community. Our vision Enhancing Queensland Communities through youth development Page 12