Community work offenders from Te Kuiti service centre have thrown themselves into a number of projects at a local marae helping to build, clean and maintain the buildings, and grounds.
"The boys have really helped us to keep the marae in good condition and without their help we would really struggle," says Kahotea Marae caretaker Mana Kimura.
"We just don't have the people to do projects like this and this is the reason why some work around the marae has been put on the backburner."
The whānau at the marae, based in the King Country area, have a long-standing relationship with CPPS. For the past nine years, community work parties have been helping out with general maintenance, construction of fences and marae buildings as well as making gardens.
Mana says the labour that they receive, under the guidance of the community work supervisors, is instrumental in preparing the marae for the many events it regularly hosts.
They were not the only ones to benefit from community work. Senior community work supervisor Billie-Jean Cassidy sent letters to local community organisations towards the end of last year, offering the services of offenders to help out on projects that they may have in the pipeline.
Oparure and Motiti marae were glad to accept the offer. Rereahu, Okapu and Tokanganui-a-noho marae are amongst those who are currently using CPPS services.
Offenders were kept busy planting and tidying gardens at the marae, removing noxious and unsightly weeds, building fences and even painting some of the buildings in need of a spruce-up.
Offenders in the work parties don't just work off some of their sentence, they also learn new skills such as landscaping, building and painting, which they can use in their future.
Working on the marae also creates more of an understanding of marae protocols for those offenders - Māori and non-Māori - who know little about the culture.
In some instances offenders have worked at a marae they whakapapa to, but have not had much to do with in the past. "I've seen offenders establish and re-establish connections with their marae as a result of visiting their marae through community work projects," says Billie-Jean.
"This initial contact can open the door to a lasting relationship between the offender and their whānau, which is a great, positive spin-off."
While some marae have only needed one-off help, others have on-going projects that will keep the offenders busy for some time.
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