Chance of a lifetime to nurture new future

The Whangai Trust nursery at Miranda, near Thames, grows thousands of native trees. For years community work teams have been helping out every Friday, but since September six young offenders on community work are out there daily. CPS Acting Service Manager Dave White explains how it all came about.

Te Whangai Trust is a sustainable ecological and educational organisation that supports and trains people who find it challenging to find a paid job. “A couple of months ago they asked us if we were interested in setting up a partnership with them to provide training opportunities for young offenders. Of course we were enthusiastic to help create this chance of a lifetime for some offenders,” says Dave.
 
The project came about as a joint venture with Work and Income under the flag of Community Max. Community Max goes two ways. It provides a wage subsidy for young people and it helps community-based projects such as Te Whangai’s nursery. The nursery provides native trees and shrubs for regeneration projects in the Waikato and Thames/Coromandel area.
 
“These offenders still serve their day’s community work sentence,” says Dave. “But they also go to the nursery the other days of the week to help out and work towards a Level 2 NZQA certificate in horticulture. They get paid for the days they are not doing their community work sentence. It takes about six months to complete the course. If offenders on the project finish their sentence before they have their certificate, they are expected to stay on the project.”

Dave is pleased with how the project has been going. “The guys and girls who have been selected for this project are grabbing this opportunity with both hands. Motivation was our biggest criteria when we selected them. Not only do they get a certificate at the end, they learn skills that can help them find a paid job at the end and help them lead a crime-free life!”