After serving the community with distinction for 15 years, the Mossman/Port Douglas Blue Light Association has made the tough decision to fold.

Rebecca Warland, the association’s secretary of Mossman/Port Douglas Blue Light Association, said this was a huge, sad and heavy-hearted decision to make.

“As we have funds in our account we have decided to divide it among four Primary Schools in the areas who have been our biggest supporters to our blue light events over all these years.

The schools are:-
• Port Douglas State School;
• Mossman State School;
• Miallo State School; and
• St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School.”

Among the reasons for closing, Ms Warland said “our children have grown up and our lives are extremely jammed packed with extra-curricular activities for them.”

Mossman/Port Douglas Blue Light Association was born in 2005 and has provided a variety of events for the children of the communities and beyond.

“Most popular were discos but we also supported events run by the Mossman Community Centre, Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre, and Mossman Elders Justice Group. We also visited the Mossman Gorge community, Wujal Wujal community and travelled to Cardwell after the cyclone and held a disco there for the children,” she said.

Ms Warland said the decision to divide the funds among the aforementioned schools is the support they have received over the years.

“The schools have been our biggest supporters over the 15 years attending our ever popular discos, loving our pass the parcel, limbo and loads of prizes to win at the end of an evening.

“Our time as Committee/Volunteer/Police Officers and Parents in this association has been amazing. The ride is something we will never forget,” she said.  

“The smile and excitement on the children’s faces and even the excitement on the parents/guardians’ faces knowing that their children are having a few hours out in safe supported environment, and getting to know the local police and gain a rapport with them.

“We’d like to thank everyone past and present who has been involved in the association for all your help and assistance and to the Mossman Memorial Bowls Club and Port Douglas State School Cyclone Shelter that provided the venue for our events over the years,” said Ms Warland.

Blue Light is a police youth programme designed to encourage better relations between the police, young people, their parents and the community.

It does this by involving young people in supervised cultural, social and sporting activities in an environment free from alcohol, drugs and violence. It uses every opportunity to positively promote the police to news media and the community.

There are currently 77 Blue Light Branches throughout Queensland, covering an area from Torres Strait to St George. Remote areas such as Barcoo, Charleville, Cunnamulla and Longreach all benefit from programs run by their local Blue Light Branch.

An average of 100,000 young people attend a Blue Light function in Queensland each year, participating in activities such as dances, skating, movie nights, pool parties, sports, camps and our EDGE program.