Boys to the Bush opens new office in Dubbo

Boys to the Bush thinks so and they've just opened the doors to a new Dubbo location.

"We've had kids gain employment which has been fantastic and schools report better attendance ... and a better attitude from students," Cassandra Tyack, community partnerships coordinator at Boys to the Bush, said.

"It's a really great initiative and it's working."

The Albury-based not-for-profit helps boys to engage positively in their communities through mentoring and camping experiences. The Dubbo location is the newest of nine regional hubs across NSW and Victoria.

Before opening the new hub, Boys to the Bush staff were travelling up from Forbes to deliver one-on-one mentoring, school programs and holiday camps for disengaged boys in Dubbo.

Ms Tyack said the new hub would allow the organisation to expand its programs and offer round-the-clock support.

"We're not a nine-to-five organisation and in those really difficult times the boys know that our staff will take their calls and will be there to support them," she said.

"In other towns those phone calls and the staff answering them have literally saved lives."

Boys to the Bush camps give young men between nine-years-old and 22-years-old an opportunity to experience life in the bush and the mentoring program links boys with local businesses to build their networks within the community.

"Lots of the kids we work with are hands-on sort of kids, they're not the sort of kids that are going to be academic and going to university, so it's really important to get them out there onto places like local farms," Ms Tyack said.

"And there's so many farmers who are desperate for good help on their farms - so to be able to show the kids what's out there is really important."

Boys to the Bush is currently on the lookout for more local farms and businesses who might be able to open their doors for boys and their mentors to build social, life and work skills.

"Everything Boys to the Bush does in every location relies on community buy-in, if we don't have the buy-in from the community then what we do doesn't work," Ms Tyack said.

"It might look like a business opening their doors, giving us a bit of a tour around where they work and giving the kids an idea of what's actually involved in working in a flour mill or a meat factory or a farm machinery business."

"We've been really lucky wherever we've gone so far that we've been completely embraced by the communities."

Ms Tyack said the businesses they've worked with have also reported benefits

"It's not only all about the kids, there's a great sense of achievement at the end for the people who work with us and opened their doors,"

"If we help our kids in our communities it benefits the whole community. It has a massive flow on effect."

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app here. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.