29 January
Motueka Hospital and Hospice have received a helping hand from Community Probation & Psychological Services (CPPS) to improve their grounds and buildings.
Over the last eight months offenders on community work sentences have been undertaking grounds work including gardening, rock removal, tree planting, earthwork, digging post-holes, laying bark, and garden furniture assembly.
“Offenders also worked during the construction of the Hospital buildings, undertaking floor cleaning and building site-maintenance,” says Community Work Supervisor Daren Morris who helped oversee the project over the last year. He has been pleased with the results.
“This is a big project for Nelson CPPS with about ten acres of land and the buildings are extensive. The labour that we’ve supplied to help the Hospital and Hospice, which is also adjacent to the Saint Johns Ambulance and will provide a centre for helping people, should hopefully really benefit the local community.”
CPPS manages offenders sentenced by the courts to carry out a sentence of community work that requires offenders to do unpaid work in the community for non-profit organisations as reparation for their offending.
The offenders are managed by community work supervisors while on the job and are assessed for their suitabilityto take part in certain projects.
Collectively the CPPS work parties have put in hundreds of hours of community work at the Motueka Hospital and Hospice over the last year.
Local Tasman District Councillor and Community Project Coordinator and Volunteer Jack Inglis has helped to coordinate the project with CPPS, which has been successful he says.
“All of the offenders contributed well to the work, with a number working exceptionally hard,” says Jack. “They were very good workers. They did a marvellous job.”
CPPS will continue to undertake community work at the Motueka Hospital and Hospice, with ongoing involvement in gardening and grounds maintenance once the building has been completed.
CPPS, Mr Morris and Mr Inglis, have also organised work parties to undertake track-clearing in Marahau, gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park.
Each year New Zealand communities benefit from almost three million hours of labour supplied through offenders serving their Community Work sentences.
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