BackTrack helping farmers move forward from bushfires
Greater Bank’s long standing community partner, BackTrack, is working hard to provide important bushfire recovery assistance to farmers in need across the Mid-North Coast.
AgLads
Over the past five years, Greater Bank has provided $300,000 in funding to BackTrack’s AgLads program; an industry-led initiative that provides young people with practical skills, training and experience on farms, as well as pathways to locally-relevant employment opportunities.
The program aims to address the growing trade and agricultural skills shortages in the region and rural area, while continuing to improve overall outcomes for the youth population.
More than 180 young boys and girls aged between 12 and 18 years have been involved in AgLads since it began. Many young people, with BackTrack's support, have successfully achieved their HSC or completed traineeships, and are often the first in their families to do so.
Our continued financial assistance has enabled BackTrack to reduce group size and increase staff resources for the program, resulting in higher rates of skills attainment amongst AgLads participants.
Latest BackTrack News
BackTrack founder now officially a Local Hero
Bernie Shakeshaft is a hero to the many youths he has supported over more than a decade through his work BackTrack Youth Works.
Greater gives back to BackTrack Boys
More than 100 Greater Bank staff and their families attended Event Cinemas Kotara on Mon 24 June to celebrate the work of long-standing charity partner, BackTrack.
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Backtrack Boys - The Documentary
Catherine Scott’s award-winning documentary Backtrack Boys is shifting views about young people doing it tough. It features Bernie Shakeshaft and the BackTrack youth program he runs from a shed on the outskirts of Armidale NSW and follows the boys under his care as they hit the road with their legendary dog jumping team as they strive to turn their lives around.
The film also provides a view of BackTrack’s successful philosophy and shows how the program helps kids navigate their relationships, deal with personal trauma, and take responsibility for their decisions to create sustainable lives for themselves.
Backtrack Boys has been awarded Audience Awards at Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and the Stronger than Fiction Film Festival in Canberra & Byron Bay Film Festival.