Left: Adam working with Boys To The Bush
Boys to the Bush - The rural blokes
connecting troubled youth to better futures More than three-quarters of the 8.6 Australians who die by suicide every day are male, while males represent 92 per cent of prison inmates and four in five in the juvenile justice system1. It’s a bleak picture that Charles Sturt graduate Adam DeMamiel has made his life’s work to turn around, one kid at a time. “Everyone deserves to have someone in their lives that inspires them, guides them, and believes in them,” says the CEO and Co-founder of Boys to the Bush (BTTB), a registered notfor-profit, community-based charity focused on preventative and early intervention strategies for disengaged young males. BTTB is on a mission to help boys become good men. It provides boys with an environment free from the distractions of their everyday situations, surrounding them with positive influences, a sense of belonging, and life-changing opportunities.
1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022) 22
Thrive | Summer 2023
“These kids have been through horrific stuff – parents in jail or addicted to drugs, witnessing friends die by suicide, family violence. We’ve had kids tell us they discovered their brother hung at their father’s hands, witnessed their dad shoot their mum, a brother tell of his sisters being exploited by “dad’s bikie mates”. This is their normal, and it’s just not right.” Adam brings his experience working with disenfranchised youth and personal mental health struggles to BTTB. Raised by community-minded parents and encouraged into teaching by his now wife Ange – both are Charles Sturt graduates – he was drawn to work with what he fondly calls “the ratbags” because he felt could have the most impact. The pair moved to Albury,
where Adam developed and delivered specialised programs in high schools for boys with behavioural challenges. “Charles Sturt lecturer Laurie Crawford inspired me and advised me to study special education. It was through this major that I realised that I wanted to focus my career on working with kids with special needs, particularly behaviour” Adam recalls fondly. He and BTTB co-founders Richard Leahy and Tim Sanson began running camps in 2017, and in 2019 Adam left teaching to focus full-time on evolving BTTB as its CEO. Today, the company proudly employs around 130 people – some are BTTB program alumni – across nine regional communities in both NSW and Victoria.
