ALMOST $8000 was raised for the PCYC on Thursday with their PCYC Lock Your Boss Up charity event, with more money still coming in from the community following the great publicity generated by the spectacle.

Thirteen well known and suspicious ‘boss figures’ were rounded up by Senior constables Belinda Dansey and Sue Turner of the Young Police and placed under lock and key in the Big W car park where the respectable citizens of Young were able to bear witness that the township was a much safer place.

In all seriousness, 13 very generous souls took time out of their working day, to be incarcerated and work diligently to find friends and family to vouchsafe their good behavior and post at least $500 bail each in support of the PCYC.

In fact, Local Area Commander Dean Smith from Cootamundra took the opportunity to find out what life was like behind bars.

Barry Moore from Tyrepower, Leon Cosgrove from Young Pet Treats, Patricia Reynolds from Joyce Mayne, Don Luff from PJ’s Fast Food and Trish Butt from Harvey Norman all handled the claustrophobic conditions with good cheer.

Paul Walker from the reject shop came equipped with a harmonica to while away the hours while Kimberly Hines from Big W unashamedly pestered every shopper who walked past for donations.

Colin Durham from Barton First National resorted to some interesting methods to raise bail, trying ‘prison food’ in the form of cat food to raise a further $50 towards his bail.

Craig Filmer from Young Shire Council was kindly nominated by his ‘harried’ wife at the last minute, while the Police had Robert Donges from IGA under surveillance however a $500 ‘bribe’ was sufficient to retain his freedom.

A special mention to Melissa ‘Shorty’ McColl from le chic who seemed so fully booked on the day she frantically raised her bail in under an hour.

David Applegate from Young PCYC had quite a lot of fun throughout the day tormenting his prisoners.

“It was a wonderful day, and everyone, including the prisoners, had an enjoyable time,” Mr Applegate said.

“It takes a strong sense of humour to put yourself inside for this sort of event, so the attitude and camaraderie of our inmates made for some entertaining banter.

“The fundraiser itself was very successful and a truly wonderful effort from everyone who took part,” Mr Applegate added.

“This is what makes country towns like Young so amazing, even in times of drought and personal financial hardships, normal everyday people are willing to give up their time and money to help children and support their local town facilities.”