Go Masterton!

Masterton Service Centre provides community work services for the whole of the Wairarapa. This makes it both a town and a rural-oriented service centre. Many activities take place, from creating and maintaining tracks to helping out at the city’s Salvation Army.
 
Service Manager Siobhan Garlick says that the key for success is the great relationship they have with other organisations in the Wairarapa. “We work closely with Police, local iwi and organisations for anger management, alcohol and drug treatment. We have to work together because the Wairarapa is so vast and by co-operating we can improve our community work service,” says Siobhan.

Working together is second nature for Senior Community Work Supervisor Rob Monson and Masterton District Council Parks and Recreation Officer Rosanne Heyes. In September they both inspected the newly created tracks in the Lansdowne Reserve. Thanks to community work this relatively new neighbourhood now has a park with walkways on its doorstep.

As Rob and Rosanne admire a recently placed picnic table, a jogger eases her way downhill. “It’s great to see these tracks being used,” says Rosanne. “We are planning on linking up all the tracks to Henley Lake in the centre of Masterton with lots of loops so it will provide a lot of variety.”

“Our community work teams lined the paths with the help of a digger,” says Rob. “They also did quite a bit of tree planting. We keep the parks clean as well; cut the grass and trim the side of the tracks.”

Further out to the southwest, Mt Holdsworth provides a popular walking spot in the Tararuas. About a year ago community work parties helped to paint the Holdsworth Lodge. “Your team has put in a fantastic effort to manage this alteration. We are receiving great feedback from the visitors to the area,” Chris Lester from the Department of Conservation Wairarapa Area Office writes in a thank you letter.
 
Chris also mentions in the letter that he would especially like to acknowledge the excellent effort of the supervisors. “Their superb supervision and communication with my team means that work is of top standard and quickly completed which we are very grateful for.”

Back in town the Salvation Army provides work for three offenders on community work. Dave Walker is their Senior Community Work Supervisor. He has only been in the job for about a year. It’s totally different from the freezing industry where he previously worked for more than 30 years.

“I just love being a community work supervisor,” he says. “For me it’s people like Sheila* who make it worthwhile. Sheila has been a volunteer at the Salvation Army after completing her community work sentence. She has turned over a new leaf.”

Manager of the Masterton Salvation Army Sandi Toki is very pleased with Sheila’s work. “Customers love her. She started as a volunteer in October 2008 but she is on maternity leave at the moment. We are hoping to see her smiling face back soon. She is such a bubbly personality, very friendly – nothing’s too much trouble. That’s why we put her behind the front counter.”

This is a privilege Sheila gained after completing her sentence. Offenders aren’t allowed to handle any money at all at the Salvation Army.

Sandi is very happy with the working relationship she has with Dave. “He is one of the best supervisors I have ever worked with. Dave has an eye for which offenders will do well here. He always calls me to ask which days will suit me before an offender starts here. I see him at least once a week and if I don’t know why an offender hasn’t turned up, he chases them for me. And when Dave told me that agencies can get funding for some equipment if they need to, I immediately applied for some price taggers – they have come in very handy!

*fictional name to protect her privacy