My Account
At the age of nine, Shane Gould joined a youth group as an escape from a shambolic upbringing. Raised by an alcoholic and abusive father, Shane says he was sometimes so frightened as a child he would sleep underneath his bed. He has been running North Rodney Blue Light for the past 20 years, helping children rise above the challenges of their upbringing by facing their fears and learning life skills in the outdoors. He spoke with Mahurangi Matters reporter George Driver…
My father shaped a lot of my life. I learned from his mistakes. He gambled most of his money away and was a violent alcoholic. When you grow up around an alcoholic there’s always uncertainty. Some times were good, but other times were very bad. I remember being terrified some nights after he had been drinking. I’d think, ‘what if he turns on me?’. On the other hand, he was a very hard working guy and had some good values, but as soon as he drank he became a different person.
I was born in Bathurst in New South Wales but grew up in Tamworth, north of Sydney, after my family moved when my father’s engineering business went under. It’s a small city, about the size of Whangarei. My life changed when I got involved with a boys club when I was nine. It got me out of the house and I was having adventures and playing sport every day of the week. That gave me some of my first positive experiences. I then joined a youth church group when I was a teenager. The youth pastor was a surfer and the senior members treated you like family. Because of my father, I’ve never wanted to be in an environment with alcohol. We were out every weekend, tramping and having a great time without drugs or alcohol. I think you could reduce the police force by 70 per cent if you removed the effects of alcohol on society. That’s what Blue Light is about – showing kids you can enjoy yourself without drugs and alcohol.
I left school when I was 16. I come from a family of engineers and there was the expectation that I would leave school to learn a skill. I applied for a range of apprenticeships and banking was what interested me most, so I started working as a loans manager for Rural Bank of NSW bank. It was around that time I had my first drink. I was walking home after work on a hot day – it must have been 40 degrees – and colleagues from work offered me a ride home, but they stopped off at the pub on the way. I had never had a drink before and I ended up getting drunk. When I got home my mother said “you’re just like your father”. That stopped me in my tracks. I’ve never been drunk since. My parents moved to Brisbane after my Dad got another job, so I started fending for myself at an early age.
As a loans manager, I was transferred to towns all over NSW, but everywhere I went I got involved with church youth groups. I met my wife, Kristal, on one of the camps when I was working in Canberra. I became a Police officer when I was 23. I had applied when I was 18 but was rejected because I was too thin, but the Federal Police had different standards and I was accepted. The Federal Police provide security for government buildings and top security sites. I read a lot of books about spies when I was younger and it was fascinating to see real spies at work. I saw the bunker made for the Prime Minister in case of a disaster and things I never knew existed in Australia. The spies were highly intelligent people, but I was mainly just doing security clearance. I started working for the diplomatic squad and ended up stationed outside the Turkish embassy. The Turkish ambassador was receiving death threats and letter bombs due to a historic conflict with Armenians and he had 24-hour security. But it was mostly a boring job. One day I thought ‘what am I doing here? What if someone tries to shoot the Turkish ambassador. Am I going to put my life at risk to protect him?’ I joined the Police to make a difference and I didn’t feel like I was doing that. I really wanted to be working with youth.
I took six months leave from the Police and came to New Zealand with my Kiwi wife. We’ve never left. I worked in Waiuku for 12 years, at first helping young people reform after prison and then working in the supply department at the NZ Steel Mill. I had a young family and was keen to earn an income. But I became friends with a probation officer and local counsellor, and we established a trust to help young people. I started running programmes with people on probation and other at risk youth. We set up a business building plastic glass-houses and employing young people doing community service. We would also take gang members and wannabe gang members on tramping and rafting trips in the central North Island. Taking people out of their comfort zone can have a transformative impact. It gives them real life experiences where they have to face their fears. Sometimes life presents situations where you can’t go back – the only way is forward. Through encouragement and trust, people can do incredible things. We tried to teach those life skills through outdoors adventures. After four years we found we were no longer getting referrals because the impact the service was having on the town.
I received a letter advertising a job for a youth coordinator in Wellsford as part of Blue Light Ventures. I was 39 and wasn’t sure if I was the right age to be relating to young people, but my colleague said ‘that’s your job!’. Wellsford Police officer, Rod Bell, had rallied the community to build the Wellsford Police Station over a weekend. He said employing a fulltime youth coordinator was his way of giving back. Now he is the chief executive of the national Blue Light. Blue Light is about building relationships between the Police and the community. We started running dances for 10 to 14 year olds. One of the officers worked as a DJ and we had a great time going around local schools. We also started the Wellsford trolley derby, which received national attention. But the core of Blue Light is helping kids build self-esteem through challenging themselves and conquering their fears in the outdoors. We do a lot of kayaking, mountain biking, air rifles, team building, camping and archery. If young people are bored and aren’t challenged then they often end up putting their energy into negative things like graffiti. We try and get them engaged and use their energy for something positive. I’ve been there so long I’m starting to see the second generation of children come through. Their parents still remember the experiences of Blue Light 20 years down the track.
I’ve found the main drivers of children getting into trouble haven’t changed. I think people underestimate the power of a nuclear family. I often find when young people have a poor relationship with their parents; it manifests itself in antisocial behaviour. Some people grow up in an environment where they think the only time you have fun is when mum and dad are drinking, having friends around. Having positive role models is crucial. All young people make mistakes, but it’s important to have someone to say this might be a better way of doing things next time. But anyone has the potential to down the wrong path. I don’t see myself as any different to the young kids who get into trouble. It’s often that they don’t have anyone to show them how to make the right decisions. But people can change. I think the only way I got through my childhood was because of a sense of belonging I found in the boys club and my Christian faith.
