Community Programs
Turn your club into an intentional third space
We're here to help cultivate your club to somewhere young people feel they belong, and keep coming back to.
What PAVE brings to your club
Your club already has what young people need most: adults who show up, a place to belong and a reason to come back.
PAVE helps you make that intentional.
Mentor training for volunteers and members
Hands-on workshops that give your volunteers and older members the skills to connect with younger ones. How to listen, ask better questions, notice when someone is doing it tough, and know exactly when to pass something on.
Workshops for young members
Practical sessions building life skills, connection, confidence and belonging. Hands-on, never lectured, and shaped around what your members already enjoy.
Activities that build connection
Side by side, not face to face. Engaging, fun and shared challenges that make it easier for young people to open up and for mentors to genuinely get to know them.
Designed with you.
What young people take away:
Confidence, Emotional Skills, Real World Skills, Connection, Belonging and a Sense of Direction.
What is a third space?
Home is one space. School is another. A third space is somewhere young people belong outside of both, with trusted adults who know their name and notice when they're there, and when they're not. None of a parent's agenda. None of a teacher's authority. Just people who take them seriously.
For a lot of young people, their club already is that place. It just hasn't been set up to make the most of it.
An intentional third space is one where connection doesn't happen by chance. The adults know their role, young people feel safe to be seen, and there's always a reason to keep showing up.
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Mentoring that grows with your club
PAVE doesn't parachute in. We back the people already in your club, so mentoring keeps going long after we step back.
- 01
We train your volunteers and older members.
Your coaches, age managers and 18+ members learn to mentor while doing what they already do: coaching, running training and looking after the club.
- 02
They create space for the group.
Older members mentor the teens coming through, building the trust and confidence that keeps them involved.
- 03
Those teens grow into mentors.
As younger members grow up, they become the ones creating space for the kids behind them. The culture carries itself.
It really does take a village.
Already happening at Freshwater SLSC
Through Beyond the Flags, PAVE is training the members and volunteers at Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club to mentor younger members, alongside monthly workshops for 13 to 15 year olds. The aim is simple: mentoring that becomes part of how the club runs.
The best starting point is a conversation
Every club is different. Before suggesting anything, Nick wants to hear about yours:
- What your young members enjoy, and what keeps them coming back
- Where they could use more support, or skills they could build
- What engagement looks like across your age groups
- The challenges you're facing, from drop-off to volunteer capacity
- What's already working well, so we build on it rather than replace it
From there, we'll shape something that fits your season, your people and your club's child safety policies.
Tell us a little about your club. Nick will be in touch to arrange a chat.
Who's behind it
Nick and the PAVE team
PAVE was founded by Nick, a former teacher, health and wellness coach and youth mentor on Sydney's Northern Beaches. PAVE's mentors work one to one with young people every week, and every mentor holds a Working With Children Check. That day-to-day experience is what we bring to clubs.
Questions
Is this counselling?
No. It's mentoring, built around listening, honest conversation and doing things together.
Does it replace our coaches or age managers?
No. It builds on the people you already have.
What does it cost?
It depends on your club and what you need. Nick will talk it through with you.
