Among stands promoting milking systems and caravans selling hot chips, one highlighting Corrections’ work in the Waikato/Central Region was to be found at this year’s National Agricultural Fieldays.
Corrections was not trying to encourage people to become prisoners, but it was there to improve understanding of Waikeria Prison’s role in the local community.
With 906 beds, Waikeira is New Zealand’s biggest prison and it is also a large employer and Fonterra supplier.
Located 16 kilometres south of Te Awamutu, Waikeria is set in 1,200 hectares of land and has three dairy farms, a cropping unit and a calf-rearing unit. Prisoners working on the farm are taught farming skills, animal husbandry, health and safety, quad bike use and first aid. Each month around 15,000 prisoner-hours are worked.
CIE Site Operations Manager Andy Barr says Fieldays highlighted the significance of Waikeria’s farming operation and the training, qualifications and experience provided to prepare prisoners for release.
The Fieldays stand also aimed to recruit staff, in particular corrections officers for the Waikato/Central Region (Waikeria Prison and Tongariro-Rangipo Prison in Turangi) and for Spring Hill, the new men’s prison currently under construction in North Waikato. Spring Hill will have a capacity of 650 prisoners.
Recruitment Coordinator Erica Fraser says the Fieldays are a great way to get out into the community and talk about what actually happens in a prison.
“It helps demystify the corrections officer role and promote the career opportunities Corrections has to offer,” she says.
“More than 60 people expressed interest in a career within the Public Prisons Service and with a response like that, we are certainly adding Fieldays to our events calendar for next year,” says Erica.
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ISSN 1178-8453