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Boys To The Bush Ltd.

Boys To The Bush Ltd (BTTB) is a Not-for-Profit public company limited by guarantee which is established to be and to continue as, a Charity. The purpose of the company is to provide at risk youth/young people with opportunities to connect through away from home camps and activities. Boys to The Bush was co-founded in January 2017 by three passionate and qualified teachers; Adam DeMamiel, Richard Leahy and Tim Sanson. They saw a need for such camps whilst conducting their everyday jobs as teachers. Camps were being run by the school they worked at for over a decade with outstanding outcomes such as behavioural improvements, academic improvements, school attendance improvements and engagement improvements. The camps (and boys education programs) became a passion for each of the co-founders and they could see the benefits the camps were having on the youth that were involved every day. The key target audience for BTTB are boys who are at risk of significant disadvantage, beyond the normal challenges faced by young boys, from a variety of factors including drug abuse, alcohol abuse, violence, facing financial disadvantage or boys who have a lack of family or support systems around them (mainly being cared for by people who aren’t their parents or are in the welfare system). Approximately half of participants who currently attend camps are medicated for a diagnosed disability, disorder, condition and/or impairment. BTTB has a proven history of being able to engage with youth. 60% of participants identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, 85% come from Out of Home Care Living Arrangements and 90% do not have a male adult living with them. BTTB has engaged with hundreds of disengaged boys from all over Australia. We are proud that over 70% of the boys that have attended a camp have returned, many of which are now “regulars”. These boys are now, for once in their lives, connected and engaged with someone and belong to something.