17 December
Children at Hora Hora School will be getting back in the pool this summer after having it refreshed and revived by offenders serving sentences of Community Work.
A closely supervised group of offenders spent three days at Hora Hora Primary School, cleaning and water blasting the pool and surrounding sheds and painting them.
“Our pool is invaluable. It gets pretty hot here in summer, so for kids to be able to cool off and learn water skills and how to swim in the warmer months is great,” says Hora Hora School Principal Pat Newman.
“Being surrounded by beaches also means that water confidence and swimming ability is especially important for our kids' safety.”
“The school had been quoted up to $10,000 to have the work done commercially, so we are really glad for them that we were able to provide them with the labour, and all they had to do was supply the paint.” Says Tony Hodgson Whangarei Service Manager for Community Probation & Psychological Services.
This is not the first time offenders have worked at Hora Hora Primary School. In 2000 offenders took on a two year project painting all of the school buildings except one. They also relocated several buildings and the playground. At the time Pat told a local newspaper that the quality of the work was “superb”.
“Nothing has changed nearly seven years on – the offenders do a tremendous job and we are more than pleased to be involved with CPPS. It benefits us, and the offenders who can see what a change they have made. We hope to continue the relationship into the future” says Pat.
The sentence of community work requires offenders to do unpaid work in the community for non-profit organisations as a way of making up for their offending.
Across New Zealand, almost three million hours a year of labour is provided to benefit local communities by offenders.
Other local work completed by offenders on Community Work Sentences in Whangarei includes grounds maintenance at Otangarei Sports Field and restoration of the historic Kioreroa Cemetery.
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