Moree Salvation Army’s Jason Poutawa recently sourced a car through a generous donation, which will be used to help Clontarf boys achieve 50 hours of driving experience on their learner licence before Moree’s PCYC can take over and help them obtain all 120 hours, as well as their provisional licence through their Driver Licensing Access Program.

The initiative was the brainchild of Moree Clontarf Academy director Eric Faulkner, who identified a gap in achieving the goal of helping Clontarf boys gain employment.

“When I started here in Moree 12 months ago, in terms of boys becoming work ready post-school, the biggest gap was a drivers licence,” he said. 

“Many of our boys’ families either do not have a vehicle suitable for lessons or family members are on their Ps and unable to supervise a learner driver.

“We get them to school, get them through school and then get them jobs, but the biggest challenge to securing employment is they don’t have a licence, especially in the country where we’ve got no public transport.”

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After raising the issue with Mr Poutawa, the Salvation Army program manager – who used to run a driver program in Sydney – was quick to jump on board.

“He has been working hard behind the scenes to firstly get the car and then sort the insurance, storage, servicing, tyres etc,” Mr Faulkner said.

Mr Poutawa was more than happy to get involved in the initiative, which he said is a great example of what can be achieved by various community groups working together.

“There’s a lot of organisations out there with the same goal, so why not get together,” he said.

“We’ve got the boys, Jason’s got the know-how and the PCYC have got the funding,” Mr Faulkner added.

“We can all add our value.”

Any Clontarf boy who has his Ls and wants to get his hours up is welcome to participate in the program, with Clontarf staff able to supervise year 11 and 12 clients during their free periods at school and as an after-school activity.

The first driving lessons began this week.

Eventually, the goal is to establish a mentoring program, with volunteers in the community coming on board to supervise the driving lessons.

“It will generate more productivity which means more people are able to achieve their Ps before they finish school,” Mr Poutawa said.

Both Mr Poutawa and Mr Faulkner said obtaining a driver’s licence is “huge” for these young boys, many of whom are often the first in their family to do so.

“It’s a ticket to their freedom, becoming independent on their own two feet,” Mr Poutawa said. 

“It’s also breaking that cycle of family members who don’t have a licence or a car or a job.”

“It opens up so many opportunities for them post-school,” Eric added.

The focus now is to keep the program running, with donations more than welcome.

If anyone is interested in volunteering or contributing to the program, call Jason on 0425 390 273.