Fledgling youth program Boys to the Bush named a Community Achievement Awards semi-finalist

The organisation, which was born on the Border in 2017 and supports disengaged young males, has been named a semi-finalist in the connecting communities category for the regional NSW and ACT Community Achievement Awards.

Chief executive and co-founder Adam DeMamiel said it was a nice surprise to be recognised for their work, but added it wouldn't be possible without the efforts of so many.

"It's a pat on the back to say we're on the right track, but it's not just us. We rely heavily on the community and we're lucky the communities we've established have bought into what we're doing," he said.

"People who have money write a cheque, people that can donate time do that and those who can donate goods do that as well.

"It's recognition for everyone who does their bit to help these kids."

Mr DeMamiel said the recent lockdowns across regional NSW have added an extra layer of concern to the organisation, as home for many of the young men they work with is not a safe place.

"We've been able to run some programs, given a lot of our clientele are deemed vulnerable persons, we've still been able to work one on one with them," he said.

"Our larger group programs and school programs keep getting delayed and we're meant to be running eight camps next week, so we're not sure if they'll be going ahead.

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"It's taught us to be a bit more flexible and roll with it.

"Unfortunately for a lot of the kids we deal with, being locked down at home is far from ideal given their backgrounds.

"We've been trying to stay engaged with them as much as we can, particularly the kids out in western NSW, via phone calls and Zoom.

"I've done a couple of talks recently to some organisations that support us and spoken about some of the stories of the kids and how they live to bring a bit of perspective to us who are whining about all of our first world problems.

"Thankfully most of us are lucky enough to have roofs over our heads and be fed, but some of the kids aren't so lucky."

Mr DeMamiel said the group had grown from two full-time employees to almost 20 in the time of the pandemic, with another 20 casuals also on board.

"COVID forced us to do a lot of one on one stuff and that's where we're getting some really good outcomes," he said.

Award finalists will be judged on September 29, with winners to be announced at the presentation event on November 19.

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