In the Auckland Area, CPPS operates community work in New Lynn, Mt Eden, Panmure and Mangere. Find contact details here.
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Excerpt from Community Works Issue 8, August 2006 |
Offenders had a hand in history when they helped to prepare an historic Auckland church and marae for 125th anniversary celebrations.
The Anglican Maori Mission's Church of the Holy Sepulchre and adjacent Tatai Hono Marae (formerly St Paul's Church Hall) in Grafton have a Category 1 listing from the Historic Places Trust. The complex recently had a $700,000 exterior refurbishment but the inside was in need of attention before the celebrations in July.
Canon Lloyd Popata from Te Mihana M?ori o Tamaki Makaurau says the supervised offenders serving community work sentences from the Mt Eden Community Work Centre made a huge contribution in the four weeks leading up to the celebration.
"The offenders were wonderful to work with and very respectful. The sanctity of the marae was not violated at any given time and all health and safety issues were addressed."
The work at the marae included stripping, sanding, plastering and painting the interior walls and window frames, weeding the gardens, mowing lawns, vacuuming and sweeping the Church. Offender also got busy polishing floors, sanitizing cutlery and crockery, sanding and oiling the pews, and tidying up where needed.
Canon Popata wrote to thank CPS staff, sending "aroha and special thanks" to staff who organised the project and who supervised the work.
He says the offenders were on their best behaviour. "I think the way they were supervised, being a church, and the way we approached them and talked to them, there was no trouble at all."
He says it was fitting that M?ori offenders were involved in the project because when the marae was established in 1969, the name "Tatai Hono" was carefully chosen. "It means the reunification of kinship ties, to reflect the numbers of M?ori coming from rural areas to the city. The marae was to relink them to their culture."
Canon Popata says the importance of the site was not lost on those who work on the project.
Two offenders have since arranged to wed their fianc?es at the church.