from YAPRap March 2007 
by Isabel Seidel, YAPRap Feature Writer
Where is McCully's Gap? McCully's Gap is 15km north east of the grand old town of Muswellbrook, in the upper Hunter region of NSW, 257km north of Sydney. The countryside is beautiful and supports a strong rural and industrial economy with coal mining, farming and vineyards.
Many of the young people living in and around McCully's Gap can't always travel to Muswellbrook to participate in youth events. So, one very inspiring Mum, Narelle Murray, decided to turn McCully's Gap Hall into a Friday night ‘youth night'!
Narelle began the project 11 years ago and said "many of the young people travelling on the bus to school from McCully's Gap went to different schools in Muswellbrook. Organising a youth activities night at the hall brought young people together and gave them an opportunity to get to know each other."
What activities were organised at McCully's Gap Hall?
Narelle worked with another inspiring mum, Kim Radcliffe, who helped Narelle to organise the activities at the McCully's Gap Hall. When Narelle first started organising the youth activity nights, she had something organised at the hall for the young people to participate in 3 days a week and then it became every Friday night. She said when it first began she used to plan the youth activities a couple of months ahead and send out a monthly newsletter to the young people so they would know what activities would be happening at the hall.
Mums would drop the young people off at the hall and the evening would start with a BBQ tea.
After tea the youth activities would begin and some of the activities have included - ballroom dancing, craft activities such as scrap booking and a mural project that is still being worked on. The mural is on 5 big boards of canvas in the inside of the hall. An art teacher is working with some young people to document the history of McCully's Gap. The young people are currently spending one night a month on painting the mural.
Who comes along to the youth activities?
Of course young people come along! However, what's really unique about the McCully's Gap youth activity night is that it's an opportunity for young people and the community of McCully's Gap to get together. As Narelle said "when the youth activities night started there were young people, community members of all ages, babies and parents with children who would come along. At the beginning of the project there would be 30 to 40 young people and children attending.
How much does it cost?
The young people were charged $3 for tea and because the activities were organised by Narelle and Kim they were free. Narelle said the $3 just covered the cost of hiring the McCully's Gap Hall. To raise money for the youth activity nights there has been a number of fundraising events such as: chocolate drives, garage sales, country fare, trivia night, line dancing night, a deb ball was held after a group of young people from McCully's Gap learnt ballroom dancing and they also organised an auction night where fireworks were put on for entertainment and community members donated things to be auctioned on the night. The community really got behind and supported the McCully's Gap activity nights and Narelle and Kim have put in an amazing amount of time as volunteers to drive the youth activity nights.
What do the young people get out of the activity nights?
Narelle said it's been great to watch the young people begin to organise their own activities. She said it's been a great way to promote self-entertainment as the young people have often come up with ideas and games to amuse themselves on the Friday nights. Narelle said "rural young people benefit from having activities close to their homes and in their local community." She said "when rural young people start going into town there is nothing for them to do and sometimes they may find themselves getting into trouble. An aim of the activity nights was to provide young people of McCully's Gap with something to do close to home, so they don't have to leave their local community to find something to do".
The activity nights have also encouraged young people to become active members of their wider community by being involved in some worthy community projects. Some of the community projects the young people have been involved in include: Clean Up Australia Day and Australia's biggest morning tea, which aimed to raise money for cancer research. The young people have also made chocolates and then gave them out to older people in the local community.
What is the future of the McCully's Gap Youth Group?
In the last couple of years the youth group has not been as active as it was in the early days when the McCully's Gap youth group first began. The cost of running the activities nights has also increased. However, this has not stopped the activity nights! Carey Duggan at Upper Hunter Youth Services has stepped in to help keep the youth group running. Once a month on a Friday night Carey brings a bus with young people from the local area to the hall. He has helped to run the activity nights and often brings out a pool table, craft activities, bingo and other games for the young people to play. Recently, the group has secured $6,000 to spend on the Friday night activities.
So, there is no doubt about it - McCully's Gap youth group will keep on evolving. It won't stay the same, things never do but it's really inspiring to look back and see what the McCully's Gap youth group has achieved and to look forward to things that are yet to come!
