"It's just a damn amazing community": PCYC stalwart Railene Doherty says goodbye after 18 years

When Railene Doherty was offered the job managing the PCYC by the then outgoing manager in 2004, she was less than enthusiastic, telling him 'not on your life'. However, she admitted 'he got his way'. And now some 18 years later, Railene announced she was leaving the role she learned to cherish so much.

Railene spoke with the Mudgee Guardian three days before her final day on the job. Looking back on her time at the PCYC, Railene admitted that when she took on the role in 2004, she had no idea what she was in for.

"It was a massive learning curve," she said.

"I kept giving myself to the end of the month, 'just put in the hard yards till the end of the month.' It took me at least two years to know my way around the club. To know what was actually expected off me. And then it probably took another couple of years to stamp my own personality on the club."

Railene came on at a time when the PCYC was shifting to civilian management, away from exclusively police-managed clubs.

"I had no preconceived ideas. I knew that it was managed by the police, and they offered sporting activities. And that was about all I knew at the time," she said.

During her tenure, Railene said she has seen every single aspect of the club change visually but said the spirit remains the same.

"We've been very lucky to receive community building partnership funding over the years, we have received quite a lot of donations from the mines to allow us to make renovations [and] to buy new equipment," she said.

"Just recently, we have been lucky to receive a large grant... to actually replace the whole sports court floor. The old floor will be ripped up and a new floor laid... It won't happen in my time, but the wheels are set in motion and the money is there to do that."

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a shift in the workforce around the world known colloquially as 'the great resignation', where people were forced to stop and take stock of their lives and consider their future. Railene said it was this disruption that made her consider hers.

"I think coming out of COVID, the drive that I had prior - the energy that I had - just a lot of things shifted," she said.

"It just made me think 'do I want to continue doing this for the next 10 years?' I realised then that to make this business grow here in Mudgee it needed a younger, more passionate person. It needs somebody who has different ideas to bring in.

"I've been employed for 35 years and been at the PCYC for 18 years...

"I think that after so many years, I just felt that I needed a break."

Railene will spend some of her time taking that well-earned break before diving headfirst into a new job, wherever that may be, and said she hopes to lead her regular fitness classes at the PCYC too.

"I just need to have... a few weeks off, and time to reassess what I want. And then I'll go from there. There's certainly quite a lot of businesses that are looking for staff, and I'm prepared to have a go at anything," she said.

"I don't want to get too tied down."

Raliene reflected on the relationships that she made during her time managing the PCYC and said they will be with her for life.

"I have made some really good friends. I have worked with some amazing people, some very clever people," she said.

"The volunteers that have been with the organisation are amazing. We've had the same committee for many, many years. And because of their support, it has kept me going and kept me passionate about my job and driven.

"It's just a damn amazing community Mudgee is. And in working for a charitable organisation, you realise how how much your community does support you."