Inviting the industries inside the wire

“I never expected Rimutaka Prison’s nursery to be so well-managed,” says Horticultural Officer Evan Gwerder of Upper Hutt City Council. He was one of 34 people who accepted the invitation to an employer evening in April.

The attending employers came from, among others, supermarket chains, roading companies, building companies and the council. Area Operations Manager Kathleen Masoe says that the evening was organised to give them a chance to see how prisoners lived.

“We just wanted to show existing and prospective employers how their employees lived. And to tell them how CIE’s dedication to help prisoners turn their lives around starts inside the wire in all kinds of industries.”

It was a first visit to prison for the employers so Rimutaka Prison Manager Richard Symonds explained the relevant health and safety issues to them. Kathleen says, “It was the prisoner’s ‘journey’ we wanted to get across.” So she then explained how CIE contributes to public safety by giving prisoners the opportunity to gain important work skills and to follow the pathway to Release to Work, making a crime-free life possible.

Four vans were used to transport the employers around the prison. Kathleen says, “Our first stop was the Receiving Office (RO). As if on cue, when we entered the prison a Police van turned up delivering prisoners. The employers could see how they first had to go into the ‘dirty’ cells to be searched for contraband and then were transported into ‘clean’ cells.”

The next stop was the nursery where four prisoners guided employers around. They explained the work duties and skills involved as prisoners progressed through horticultural training. Evan Gwerder of the Upper Hutt City Council says, “I was just blown away by the sheer size of the operation. The quality of the trees they were growing was great. So we asked the nursery to sell us around 400 native trees for Arbor Day. On 5 June we planted the pittosporum, kahikatea and many others in Trentham Memorial Park.”

Principal Instructor Wayne Turner says: “Not bad for a first sale! All native plants are eco-sourced from council ground so we get a lot out of our partnership with the council.”

The last stop was the Self Care Unit where employers could mingle with prisoners and staff. Kathleen says, “It gave them a chance to see where their workers live, to ask questions and share information with staff, prisoners and each other. All in all it was a great success and we are hoping to organise another employer evening towards the end of this year.”

Wanganui Prison Area Operations Manager Julie Gowan says she has also seen positive results from employer evenings. “At our last employer evening in June, Fulton Hogan, already an employer, was very taken with the skills that prisoners learn inside the wire, such as in the pre-cast yard.

"At the time of the visit some of our prisoners were working on one of Fulton Hogan’s projects that was nearly completed. Visiting the site, learning more about the prison environment and seeing the diversity of skills has contributed to Fulton Hogan employing the prisoners in another project.”