HELP BAYWATCH HELP OUR YOUTH

(L-R) Leaders Ian Zaro, Gerald Henaway, Ollie henaway, and Mary-Anne Haller, in front of the organisation’s Cunningham Street hangout. Photo: Jacob Casha.

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It all started with basketball and barbecues.

That was Gerald Henaway’s answer to the youth crime plaguing the Burdekin 40 years ago.

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Gerald, a Burdekin local and youth worker at the time, recalled a period that saw nearly three break-and-enters a day. Meanwhile, illegal marijuana operations riddled the Burdekin River, property theft was running rampant, and the Indigenous community’s reputation was paying the price.

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He knew something had to change.

“I saw all these indigenous kids getting involved in drugs and committing offences … and I wanted to make a difference,” Gerald said.

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“The mayor, Townsville Police and local service providers—we all sat down to address the crime which was real bad at the time, and started with basketball and barbecues.

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“We threw money out of our own pockets, and it all just grew out of that.”

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Those efforts gave rise to BAYWatch—Burdekin Area Youth Watch—which, four decades later, has grown into an award-winning youth program supporting more than 100 Indigenous and disadvantaged local children.

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And the mission hasn’t budged.

“We just want to see these kids bring real value to the community,” Gerald said.

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He said the group is a way to keep children and young adults connected, educated, and active, prying them away from crime.

And if you’ve ever wandered past their Cunningham Street hangout in Ayr, you’d see they keep quite busy.

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Led by Gerald, wife Ollie Henaway, daughter Geraldine Henaway, Ian Zaro, and Mary-Anne Haller, the program offers a six-day-a-week after-school program that engages children in everything from touch football and basketball to rugby league, tennis, soccer, hockey and ten-pin bowling.

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It’s not just about sport, though.

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From learning to drive and obtaining a licence to mowing lawns, fishing trips, camps and church activities, the group prides itself on giving children opportunities to learn practical life skills they might otherwise never have the chance to develop.

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But this sustained effort, alongside recent cuts to government support, has made the program increasingly difficult to operate.

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After relying on government funding for over 20 years, the organisation was asked to transition its service towards casework with a much smaller group of approximately 15 young people.

But Gerald refused to cull the network of children he was helping, knowing it meant a significant chunk of funding would be lost.

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"We didn’t want to change what we were doing,” he said.

Now, the program relies solely on donations to help it cover running costs, including maintaining the three buses that transport kids to and from daily activities.

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“I don’t think there’s anyone in Australia that does all these things with this amount of money,” Gerald said.

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“I’ve had people and businesses come up to me and say, ‘If you weren’t doing all this, we’d have a lot more problems here.”’

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After four decades of tackling youth crime at its grassroots, BAYWatch is asking the Burdekin to help it keep doing what it does best.

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Help BAYWatch help our community. Donate here:

Account name: Burdekin Area Youth Watch Incorporated

BSB: 654-000

Account No: 64291584

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