Projects

Getting Amped Music Workshops

Through our Weekly Activity Program of Songwriting, Hip Hop Recording and Jam Sessions, Monthly Band Nights and Community Events we are able to engage with many young people and help develop their musical skills while creating a strong sense of community around the events that they coordinate and perform at.

This year as part of the Mt Gravatt PCYC’s music program we have been working closely with several groups of African and Indigenous young men, developing their musical skills, networks and aspirations. By supporting them through our weekly workshops and putting them in touch with our community networks we have enabled them to pursue their dream of writing, recording and performing at local festivals and youth events.  This is an important part of discovering their identity as rappers/young men and what messages and stories they wish to spread to their communities.

Getting Amped Outreach Recording Kit

Our portable recording studio has been popular with local youth organisations and schools and has seen the demand grow for the Getting Amped Outreach Recording Kit to be employed outside of the Mt Gravatt PCYC at other venues, events and festivals. This has been a great asset to the PCYC allowing us to run simultaneous workshops in and outside the club to engage and reconnect with local young people, while allowing them to explore their talents in a free and supportive environment.

All age Band Nights and Rehearsals

We have hosted 13 all ages events in the last year from hardcore punk shows to independent pop/rock, and enlisted local singer and promoter Jaime Lee to organise a Youth Week Festival at the Princess Theatre that attracted 300 people.  With our support she has successfully completed her second festival “Monsterfest” featuring American headliners “For Today” and New Zealand support band “Wish for Wings”.

Streetwise 2009

The Streetwise Crime Prevention Program 2009 was re-funded this year by QLD Police, Impact Youth Services, PCYC QLD, Sunnybank SHS and Mt Gravatt PCYC, due to the success of the program in 2008.   Streetwise is engaging young people in Year 8 & 9, aged 13-15 years, who have been identified by their teachers and school administration as requiring specific intervention to develop their skills in pro-social communication and conflict resolution.

The project’s objectives were:

• To engage target group through a dynamic group process to explore and research their experience of conflict
• To embed group process with values of Respect, Friendship and Sharing; and the leadership skills of Managing Self, Connecting with Others, and Creating My Place in the Wider World
• To develop participants’ personal awareness and ability to manage their behaviours
• To develop participants’ protective behaviours and personal safety skills
• To develop participants’ social responsibility and conflict resolution skills
• To develop cross-cultural understanding

An important component of the program was the opportunity for the group to collaboratively choose an arts-based project. The group chose to write and record a song, “Song for the Next Generation”, and give a presentation to Year 7 students from Sunnybank State Primary School.

The opportunity to choose project activities was incorporated for a number of purposes:

• To assist participants to feel valued and respected
• To help establish a positive rapport between facilitators and participants
• To maximize the chances of every participant finding the program activities relevant, interesting, enjoyable, and within their capacity for success
• To provide a range of activity options, some of which participants may not previously have had the opportunity to explore
• To provide a situation in which group decision-making was required, to facilitate participants’ learning about leadership, group dynamics, effective communication, compromise and co-operation

The Youth Events Program

The Youth Events program is an opportunity for young people aged 12-25yrs to become involved in coordinating an event with the help of a support team. The program offers professionally facilitated workshops, connections to extend networks, a range of resources and weekly support meetings facilitated by PCYC staff members.

PCYC’s objectives are:

• To increase participation levels within the Mt Gravatt PCYC Youth Space
• To increase the number of youth lead events
• To generate a group of creative passionate young leaders
• To create a new dynamic

An important component of the youth events program is the opportunity for young people to explore an event of their choice and showcase ideas and strengths while learning skills in event management.

The Youth Events program provides an opportunity to equip young people with:

• Skills in-group training through professionally facilitated workshops
• Communication skills to establish a positive connection between young people, facilitators, staff and the community
• Confidence to lead others
• Ability to successfully produce an event that attracts young people

Multicultures

The Multicultures Project has been based at Sunnybank State High Schools for three years with the purpose of bringing together the diverse cultures that make up the school-based community. Through a creative processes the project aims to strengthen the values of respect, friendship and sharing in the school and support the young people to become leaders who can manage themselves, connect effectively with others and who actively participate in working towards making a difference in the wider world.

The Multicultures project arose from a need identified by Sunnybank SHS to address the issue of cross cultural understanding and tolerance among young people. Multicultures is a community and youth cultural development project that brings together the diverse communities of Sunnybank, including young people, parents, cultural groups, Sunnybank State High School (SHS), teachers and community groups such as Kyabra, Multilink, Contact Inc, MyServices, QPASTT, Mt Gravatt PCYC, community cultural practitioners and various people from different areas of Brisbane City Council – collectively referred to as MYIT (Multicultures Youth Interagency Team).