Welcome to the Cairns Police Citizens Youth Club

The Qld Police Citizens Youth Welfare Association is a welfare organization and works in conjunction with the Qld Police Service. The QPCYWA works as a separate body to the Qld Police Service who does not provide any financial support. The Qld Police Service involvement is that they supply the personnel to manage PCYC facilities and to the head the QPCYWA office in Brisbane. The PCYC's are managed by one police officer at the rank of Sergeant. All other staff are employed by each individual club and paid out of club budgets. Income for the club is generated through club activities and other fund raising activities.

Sgt. Scott Pottle is currently managing the Cairns PCYC. He has 17 years service in the Qld Police. His first involvement with PCYC was as a 15 years old in Redcliffe where he attended the club and participated in activities. Sgt. Pottle has been relieving at Cairns PCYC since December 1999 as a relieving Branch Manager and was appointed to the position in August 2000.

The Cairns PCYC is one of 46 branches of the Queensland Police-Citizens Youth Welfare Association (view their website here). The first Police Youth Club in Qld was established in 1947 at Lang Park in Brisbane. The Cairns PCYC was established in 1987 and began in the old Scouts Hall in MacNamara Street on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. It was back then that approximately 130 children use to attend the scout hall and participate in organised activities such as cricket, gymnastics and karate.

The Cairns PCYC has since developed into an organization with 18 staff and over 1000 members. The facility is housed in a 1.5 million dollar building at Edge Hill. The Cairns PCYC now provides many activities for persons of all ages, including a full sized boxing ring, which is housed in our sports annex. The sports annex was completed at a cost of $165,000 in 2000 after 5 years of hard work, and was funded by Les and Ann Mills, The Cairns PCYC, Reef Casino Community Benefit Fund, The Perpetual Trustees and the Qld Government Sports and Recreation Department.