1 February
A handful of prisoners pitched in to help with the tidy-up after the weeklong Christchurch Camp Quality programme that finished at the end of last week.
It’s not the first time a small group of prisoners have helped in this way says Christchurch Women’s Prison Manager Wayne McKnight.
“I have provided a clean-up party to the camp for the last 10 years or so. In the beginning, I was approached about the possibility of organising prisoners to do the job when another group pulled out at the last minute.
“We’ve kept up the prisoners’ involvement over the years as they get a sense of satisfaction being able to contribute, even in a small way, to such a worthy event.”
Camp Quality is a not-for-profit organisation that runs camps for children with Cancer. The Christchurch region is one of five throughout New Zealand who all hold a camp in January for approximately 250 children nationwide to attend.
"I have been involved for the 10 years referred to by Wayne and we really appreciate the reliability of the group who carry out the cleaning task and have, over the years, received glowing reports from the Living Springs staff on the standard of the cleaning,” says Ivan Lawson, Regional Manager of Camp Quality Christchurch.
“At Camp 2010 we had 49 children attend, each of whom have their own dedicated carer/companion and their commitment to looking after their child does not allow for them to do anything but that, so the annual telephone call to Wayne has taken care of our wish to leave the Living Springs complex clean and tidy."
Mr McKnight says all the prisoners involved with the camp clean-up project have a minimum-security classification and corrections officers are always present, actively managing the prisoners as they work.
“Alongside the opportunity to give something back to society, the project can also help the prisoners with their rehabilitation and eventual reintegration back into the community.”
ENDS
Notes to reporter:
• Camp Quality is an annual event held at Living Springs on Banks Peninsula.
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