School Holiday Programs

A number of our centres run School Holiday Programs for local young people. These programs are designed to include local youth, and both youth-at-risk and young offenders, who have been identified by Youth Crime Intervention Officers (YCIO’s), or referred by the Juvenile Justice Teams, the Courts and other youth agencies.

Our School Holiday Programs include free activities such as sports, XBOX, table tennis, pool, snorkelling and bush walking and subsidised activities such as horse riding, laser tag, visits to the swimming pool, movies and paint-balling, to name just a few. Depending on local support and the type of activities run, participation is either free or partly subsided by WA PCYC.

School Holiday Programs are beneficial not only to the youth participants, but also to the local community.  The programs focus on:

• Keeping youth off the streets and out of trouble
• Reducing youth boredom (which in turn can cause a reduction in crimes such as graffiti and shop lifting)
• Allowing young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to engage in activities that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford
• Providing food to participants that may not otherwise be adequately provided in the home environment
• Showing young people healthy and positive ways to have fun and interact with peers and adults
• Helping to ease the burden that school holidays can have on families, especially single parents and those families that suffer financial hardship
• Allowing community members, through volunteering, to engage with local young people and act as positive role models

Contact your local centre to find out what School Holiday Programs are available to youth in your local community.