30 November
Offenders serving Community Work sentences in Greymouth have been making amends for their offending by carving sculptures to beautify the outside of Greymouth High School.
This provision of labour is part of a new venture between the Department of Corrections and the Greymouth District Council, which aims to develop community projects that give offenders the opportunity to give something back to the community.
Since August several offenders have been working hard on two carvings, one outside Greymouth High School and the other in Rununga. The first carving, named ‘the carving of knowledge’ will display a graduation cap sitting on top of a six foot high stack of text books and a range of traditional school equipment such as ink quills, pens and pencils.
The second carving will be located at the service centre and is planned to be a cultural carving depicting a mixture of West Coast themes such as white bait fishing, rivers, pounamu and gold mining.
Community Probation and Psychological Services Senior Community Work Supervisor Karen Wafer says Community Work projects such as this are a great way for offenders to give something back to the community.
“They're working really hard and learning skills in the process. They also seem to get a real sense of satisfaction and pride knowing their efforts will be appreciated by the public.”
Greymouth District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn says he looks forward to working with Corrections in the future on new Community Work projects.
“Giving offenders the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and developing some work skills can help turn their lives around and help them become good citizens.”
Each year, New Zealand communities benefit from almost three million hours of labour supplied through Community Work sentences.
Community Work sentences require offenders to do unpaid work in the community for non-profit organisations as reparation for their offending. This can also provide offenders with life and social skills and can help them to develop a work ethic that could help them gain employment in the future.