BackTrack: The Movie

BackTrack is an organisation over east. They do what Dismantle does, only instead of bikes, they use dogs.

Based in Armidale, NSW, BackTrack supports 12-18 year olds who are having a hard time and would otherwise fall through the cracks. Maybe they’ve disengaged from the school system, or are living on the streets. Many don’t have safe homes to go to, have had rough childhoods, and are on a slippery slope into the criminal justice system.

In one program, PawsUp, kids are given a BackTrack dog and taught to take responsibility for its training, discipline and care. It’s an initiative that really works. The achievement of training up a dog gives them purpose, improves their self esteem and gives them confidence in their abilities. Meanwhile, they gain a canine friend and companion who doesn’t judge, who listens, and who accepts them for who they are.

Other initiatives include a farm training program and a welding workshop, both of which give participants real accreditations and skills and can lead into a BackTrack paid employment program, then traineeships and permanent work outside of the organisation. They run onsite school outreach programs for kids who are starting to disengage from school life, and host external literacy and numeracy programs at their centres, often with the dogs lying under the desks. They’ve also got a safe house, called Warrah, that offers kids a supportive home environment and teaches them basic life skills like cooking and cleaning.

BackTrack have been busy establishing hubs in other regional centres, expanding their operations to help more kids.

Through their huge variety of programs, the organisation has likely kept hundreds of young people out of jail and made communities safer by preventing crime. BackTrack not only helps their participants get back on track, it supports them to realise their hopes and ambitions.

A film about the organisation came out in late October. Called BackTrack Boys, it’s received heaps of attention, having been featured on Conversations with Richard Fidler, talked about on Sunrise, and won Best Documentary at Byron Bay Film Festival. There are several screening events taking place around WA, along with a community screening program with opportunities for people to host their own screening or fundraiser.  

Mountain Bikes and Youth Futures

The Pipeline Challenge, scheduled for May 2019, is so much more than a mountain bike adventure. The five-day ride from the red dirt of Kalgoorlie to Perth's iconic Mundaring Weir traces the golden pipeline that has been delivering fresh water to Kalgoorlie for over a century, while exploring tracks that can't be ridden outside of this event. But, significantly, The Pipeline Challenge raises money and awareness for Youth Futures WA, a West Australian charity that has been supporting young people doing it tough for three decades.  

Dismantle doesn’t play favourites, but if we did, Youth Futures would be right up there. Initially an organisation providing shelter and support for young people experiencing homelessness, they now run a huge variety of additional programs and services. These include emergency relief, drug education and support, multicultural youth settlement, and outreach services.

One of their major service areas, however, is alternative education pathways for kids who have disengaged from mainstream education. This is where Dismantle has had the most to do with them, running BikeRescue programs at four of their campuses. We’ve developed a really strong partnership over the past year, and it’s a relationship that has been going from strength to strength. We look forward to continuing our involvement with Youth Futures through more programs in the future, and are excited about continuing to work with their students.

Registrations for the 2019 Pipeline Challenge are now open. Don’t miss your chance to sign up for an adventure that not only provides participants with an incredible experience, it supports kids in tough situations to create a better life.

Term Four Gets Cranking

We’ve got a hellava term cranking up. In total, we’ve got roughly 130 young people involved in programs this terms.

Here are the nitty gritties. There are:

- Five full BikeRescue programs running, at Cannington Community Education Support Centre, Dianella Secondary College ESC, Kenwick School, Midland Learning Academy and Baldivis Secondary College.

- One Exposure Workshop on at Ashdale Secondary College with 30 young people.

- One five-week half-program at Gilmore College, during which kids will build one bike for themselves.

- One 6-week BikeTherapy program at Headspace Midland.

- One BikeRescue Licensing program coming up in Roebourne, Western Australia with Pilbara Community Services Ltd, where we'll teach indigenous community leaders to run BikeRescue on our behalf, thanks to a grant from Australian Ethical Super. We’re going through the planning right now and should be ready to get up there first thing in 2019.

That's one busy, exciting term 4! We’re stoked to get started.

Working with the legends at WAUC

Consulting services is one thing charities and not-for-profits like Dismantle can rarely afford. All too often, however, we also can’t afford to go without.

Enter WA University Consultants (WAUC). WAUC is a management consultant charity that empowers top university students to provide high quality, pro-bono consulting services to charities and not-for-profits. The service helps organisations to overcome challenges, improve operations, and enhance social impact.

Check out their ‘Meet the Team’ page. It’s like a bunch of the world’s nerdiest superheros have joined forces, and all of their powers are related to academia and business.

WAUC take on six cases a semester, and Dismantle is lucky enough to have been selected as one for semester two. The team are working on our ReNew Properties project, a property maintenance service that will provide vocational opportunities for selected BikeRescue graduates.

Last term, as part of their research to understand better what we do, they attended a BikeRescue session at Youth Futures. They took notes, interviewed participants and really paid attention. Every participant they spoke to said they would be interested in a job opportunity related to property maintenance.

This partnership is a really exciting opportunity to get ReNew Properties up and cranking. We’re stoked to be working with WAUC and can’t wait to get our deliverables at the end of the semester.